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Man arrested in stabbing of mother, stepfather in Madison Heights

Police say the stepfather died 4 days after attack

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – A 71-year-old man died four days after he and his wife were stabbed in their Madison Heights apartment, police said.

Police said the woman’s son is accused of stabbing them. They did not have an update on the mother’s condition.

On Wednesday, Local 4 obtained police body cam footage of officers trying to arrest 29-year-old Christopher McKinney.

The incident occurred on Dec. 11 when police said McKinney was playing video games in his parent’s bedroom. The couple asked him to leave the room so they could go to bed.

“He punched (his) mom in her face breaking her nose. (He) punched (his) stepdad several times, (so his) stepdad went and retrieved a knife from the kitchen to defend himself and his wife. (McKinney) somehow got the knife away from him and then stabbed his mother and stepdad,” said Madison Heights Police Chief Corey Haines.

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A next door neighbor said he found McKinney in the hallway before midnight asking to come in and blood on the door. That’s when police arrived.

“He was laying down in the hallway and he had blood all over him,” Haines said. “There was blood everywhere -- all over the walls, the ceilings, the hallway.

At the time, McKinney’s 66-year-old mother and stepfather told police what happened.

Officers then tried to make an arrest. McKinney also assaulted a fire lieutenant trying to administer first aid, police said.

“It’s a lot for the officers to take on,” Haines said. “Add the pandemic on top of that, you don’t want someone else’s blood on you as much as they don’t want yours on them. Here, it’s everywhere.”

In addition to attempted murder charges, McKinney is facing charges of resisting and assaulting officers. One of the attempted murder charges is expected to change to murder following the stepfather’s death.

Police said McKinney has faced past assault charges that were later dropped for an incident involving his mother and stepfather.

You can watch the full report in the video above.


About the Authors
Jason Colthorp headshot

Jason is Local 4’s utility infielder. In addition to anchoring the morning newscast, he often reports on a variety of stories from the tragic, like the shootings at Michigan State, to the off-beat, like great gas station food.

DeJanay Booth headshot

DeJanay Booth joined WDIV as a web producer in July 2020. She previously worked as a news reporter in New Mexico before moving back to Michigan.

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