Kenneth Matthew Stotts, 33, of Fenton has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for second-degree murder, court records show.
Stotts, formerly of Arnold, stabbed his 65-year-old father, Thomas M. Stotts Jr., to death on Oct. 28, 2016, at their home in the 1900 block of Casa Drive, off the West Outer Road, the probable-cause statement said.
At about 8:30 p.m., Arnold Police got a call about the homicide, which probably happened one to two hours earlier, Detective Lt. James Jones told the Leader on Oct. 31, 2016.
The victim and his son had argued about the son’s alleged drug use, and while the two were in the basement fighting, Kenneth Stotts stabbed his father in the back and then headed back upstairs, with his father following him up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Kenneth Stotts kicked his father, knocking him back to the bottom of the stairs, the probable-cause statement said.
After the altercation, the victim’s wife returned home and found her husband had been stabbed and her son, who also lived there, still at the home, Jones said.
She called police and reported the stabbing and said her son was getting ready to leave the area. Officers found him nearby driving a Saturn, the report said.
Officers found the father dead with the knife still in his back, and during the investigation, the son confessed to stabbing him, Jones said.
Stotts pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and on Sept. 19 Jefferson County Div. 5 Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink sentenced him to 17 years in prison.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney David C. Casey handled the case.