Foster Son Charged with Stabbing His Foster Mom in the Neck UPDATED

“A 19-year-old Wasilla man has been accused of killing his foster mother by stabbing her in the neck with a steak knife.

Kenneth Adams was charged Tuesday murder and arson. Online court records didn’t list an attorney for him ahead of a Tuesday afternoon arraignment. He was being held on $500,000 bail.”

“According to an affidavit from the Alaska State Troopers, Mollie Ragonesi, 66, smelled smoke early Monday morning coming from Kenneth Adams’ bedroom, KTVA reported

Authorities say Adams set fire to the lower part of the furnace in a possible suicide attempt.

When Ragonesi tried to investigate, he allegedly blocked her from entering the room. She called for another man in the house, Daniel Ramsey, to bring a fire extinguisher.

The affidavit says Ramsey forced his way into the bedroom, where he and teen struggled. Ramsey was stabbed several times with the steak knife, and Ragonesi was stabbed at least once in the neck.

She left the bedroom and called 911 about 5:18 a.m. The affidavit says she was difficult to understand, and then the line went dead. She apparently collapsed at this point.

Dispatchers called back, and a man who answered the phone said Ragonesi had been stabbed by the “foster kid,” according to the affidavit.

Ramsey was able to break off the blade of the knife, and a third man in the house, James Springer, pulled the teen off Ramsey.

Ramsey went to the kitchen and collapsed on the floor near Ragonesi. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and he was taken to an Anchorage hospital and was reported to be in stable condition Monday evening.

There was thick smoke in the home when troopers and Wasilla police responded.”

Alaska man charged in stabbing death of foster mother[NewsMiner 7/22/14 by Associated Press]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update: “Kenneth Adams, the 19-year-old accused of fatally stabbing his foster mother near Wasilla last month, was arraigned on murder charges during a Palmer Superior Court hearing on Monday.

Adams, who rambled confusedly on a live microphone during a late July video court appearance, was indicted by a Palmer grand jury Friday on charges of first- and second-degree murder as well as second-degree arson and first-degree assault.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Adams could face anywhere from 20 to 99 years in prison, prosecutors say. The sentencing range for a second-degree murder charge is five to 99 years.

 

Alaska State Troopers say Adams stabbed his 66-year-old foster mother, Mollie Ragonesi, with a steak knife during a brief struggle after trying to set fire to his room on July 21. Ragonesi died of her injuries after calling 911; her friend Daniel Ramsey was stabbed multiple times during a struggle with Adams.

Adams, again appearing on a closed-circuit video feed, seemed calmer and polite on Monday compared to his previous conduct. He’s being held at Cook Inlet Pretrial Facility on $500,000 bail plus release to a court-appointed third party.

Superior Court Judge Vanessa White specifically instructed Adams not to “blurt” anything out during Monday’s afternoon hearing.

“Anything you say in court can come back and bite you,” White told him.

She also told Adams that she’ll be the judge presiding over his case.

“Nice to meet you, Judge White,” he answered and later asked the judge if she could “write down the number of my attorney, cuz that’s a good thing to have.”

White assigned an attorney from the Office of Public Advocacy to Adams.

Representatives of MY House, a Wasilla nonprofit that helps homeless teens and young adults, attended the hearing. After the hearing, they handed business cards to Paul Maslakowski, supervisor of OPA’s Palmer criminal section.

Michelle Overstreet, MY House founder, said she couldn’t comment on the nonprofit’s relationship to Adams because of confidentiality restrictions.”

Foster son accused in mother’s death near Wasilla arraigned on murder charges[Alaska Dispatch News 8/5/14 by Zaz Hollander]