Roseville teen charged in slaying of grandmother, attack on other family members

A 17-year-old boy said there are times when he is "someone else" but offered police no motive for fatally stabbing his 88-year-old grandmother Tuesday and attacking other family members with a baseball bat in their Roseville home, according to charges filed Thursday.

Matthew F. Hill, 17, was charged in juvenile court in Ramsey County with one count of second-degree intentional murder and two counts of first-degree assault in connection with the violent outburst late in the morning at the house in the 1100 block of W. Ryan Avenue.

The County Attorney's Office said it will request that Hill's case be moved to adult court, where a conviction would mean a lengthier punishment for the teen.

Hill appeared in court late Thursday afternoon via video hookup from the juvenile detention center. The court ordered an examination be done to determine Hill's mental competency to stand trial. In the meantime, he remains in custody until his next hearing on Jan. 9.

Defense attorney Cara Gilbert, in a brief interview with the Star Tribune, called what happened to the Hill family "a tragedy, and what we are focused on right now is getting him some help."

Asked what type of help her client needs, Gilbert said, "I don't think we know that right now."

County Attorney John Choi said in a statement that "this is a heartbreaking case. We will do everything in our power to support this family's healing as it proceeds through our justice system."

Emergency responders declared her dead at the scene, and the County Medical Examiner's Office concluded that she died from blows to her body and stab wounds.

The officers located Hill's mother and Maslow's daughter, 55-year-old Mary P. Hill, in the living room with fractures to her face, skull, arm and hands, and a severe cut to her lower lip, the charges read. Anna J. Hill, a 23-year-old sister of Hill's, was sitting on a couch and bleeding from head wounds.

According to the charges:

During hours of questioning by police soon after his arrest, Matthew Hill exhibited a "thousand-yard stare" while rarely moving.

He told the detective that he felt like he was "going crazy," explaining that he meant "being someone else."

However, he acknowledged that "I think I have to be" responsible for the assaults that day.

Upon arriving at the house shortly before 10:30 a.m., police detectives located a bloodied aluminum baseball bat just inside the front door. They also saw blood in a stairwell and hallways. The Ramsey County Emergency Communications Center issued a "shelter-in-place" alert to citizens' cellphones while police searched the home for the teenager.

Bridget Hill told police that she awoke to screaming, ran downstairs and saw one of her older sisters, Anna Hill, with a bloody face from cuts to her scalp and forehead while struggling with Matthew Hill over a baseball bat. Anna Hill said her brother "had gone crazy" and pleaded for 911 to be called, the charges read.

As 911 was being called, Matthew Hill had a blank stare and remained silent, the uninjured sister said. He dropped the bat once a third sister, Maria Hill, joined in the effort to take it from him and ran from the house.

Mary Hill told police she went to her mother's room in response to a call bell and was immediately attacked by her son. She otherwise had difficulty recalling further details.

The officers "noted [his] eyes were wide open and glazed over, and he was seemingly unable to verbally communicate," the charges read.

The "shelter-in-place" alert to cellphones was received far beyond the intended geographic boundaries. Once the error was realized, a follow-up alert clarified that the alert was intended for a small area surrounding where the attacks occurred. A third alert went out once an arrest was made.