A 15-year-old Wisconsin boy, Reed Gelinskey, is set to face trial as an adult following allegations of murdering his mother, Suzanne Gelinskey. The teenager was apprehended on March 4 after law enforcement officers discovered his mother’s body in the entrance of her Caledonia residence, bearing visible stab wounds and bloodied clothing. The police were alerted to the scene by the sight of the teenager exiting the house, reportedly pleading with officers to end his life and confessing to his mother’s death.
The police report detailed a chilling sequence of events as narrated by the young suspect. Gelinskey reportedly confessed to feeling depressed and harboring a desire to kill his parents on the day of his mother’s demise. He admitted to consuming anxiety medication prescribed to his brother, which he claimed made him feel high. On the night of the incident, he ingested nine such pills. He also confessed to searching for a hammer to kill his father but was unable to find one of sufficient size.
Later that evening, Gelinskey was in the living room with his mother, who was engrossed in a movie on her computer. He switched on a Netflix show about the infamous Menendez brothers, who were convicted for the murder of their parents in 1989. Gelinskey told the police that the show’s “shotgun scene” inspired him to formulate a plan to kill his parents.
Around 9:50 p.m., Gelinskey informed his mother that he was going to fetch his sleep medication. As he did so, he concealed a kitchen knife in his pocket and a dumbbell handle up his shirt sleeve. When he claimed he couldn’t find the medication, his mother descended the stairs, where he was allegedly waiting for her. The police report states that Gelinskey struck his mother twice in the head with the dumbbell when she turned her back. When she didn’t fall, he pushed her to the ground and allegedly stabbed her three times in the chest and twice in the neck with the knife. Suzanne Gelinskey reportedly tried to fend off her son by kicking him.
During the alleged assault, Gelinskey’s mother asked him why he was attacking her, to which he responded, “Pain.” Following the incident, the teenager sent a picture from the scene to a friend via Snapchat and instructed her to alert the police, which she did.
Gelinskey appeared in court on March 7 and is slated for a preliminary hearing on March 12. He has been charged as an adult with first-degree intentional homicide. During a court appearance on March 6, Gelinskey was ordered to be held on a $1 million bond.