MOUNT VERNON — Friday’s Knox County Juvenile Court hearing will eventually determine whether a Knox County teen will be tried as an adult for the alleged murder of his father.
Authorities arrested Brice Hay, 17, on Dec. 9, 2025, on charges of aggravated murder and murder in the stabbing death of his father, Kevin Hay. The teen has been held in the Muskingum County Juvenile Detention Center since his arrest.
Under Ohio law, 16- and 17-year-olds must be tried as adults if there is probable cause that they committed a Category 1 offense (mandatory bindover). Category 1 offenses include aggravated murder, murder, or the attempt to commit these crimes.
Juvenile Judge Jay Nixon held a probable cause hearing on Friday as part of the bindover process.
According to court records, the teen has a long and well-documented history of mental-health issues. Multiple mental health providers have treated him for several years.
The court ruled on Feb. 12 that the teenager was competent to stand trial.
Friday’s hearing included testimony from local law enforcement officers, forensic pathologist Dr. Maneesha Pandey, a juvenile who worked with Brice Hay, and the boy’s mother, Kassie Hay.
Brice’s parents were separated. He was living with his father on King Road because his parents agreed that his father would provide a better authority figure.
Inconsistencies with the evidence
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a suicide or an attempted suicide at a King Road residence in Howard on Dec. 9 at approximately 6:16 p.m.
Deputy Brandon Feeney said he arrived on the scene, escorted the defendant out of the house, and started a sweep of the residence to ensure no one else was present.
He described seeing blood in the hallway and a bloody kitchen knife in a bedroom. The bedroom door had a cracked frame and what Feeney said was evidence of it likely being kicked in. The door had a keypad lock.
The deceased was inside the front door.
KCSO Lt. Craig Feeney testified that when he entered the front door, the deceased was about 6 feet inside. He saw multiple stab wounds to the deceased’s chest and abdomen with tissue visible from the abdominal wound.
He also noted blood transfer on a light switch, hallway floor, and the bedroom door. A bloody knife was on the floor, and the bed and closet doors had blood spatter. Butcher block and Cuisinart knives were in the closet.
Feeney testified that he felt several things did not add up. He said the number of stab wounds was atypical of suicide and questioned why the deceased was in the front room with the amount of blood in the bedroom.
Additionally, he noticed the deceased had a cut on his right hand and a pocket knife in his right pocket. He questioned why a right-handed person would have a cut on his dominant hand.
Lt. Feeney testified that at that time he secured the scene, called in BCI (Bureau of Criminal Investigation), and requested Deputy Brandon Minot to seek a search warrant.
A changing story
In his call to 911, Brice Hay stated his father stabbed himself.
In an interview after being taken into custody, the teenager told Lt. Feeney and a BCI agent that his father came after him and grabbed him by the hoodie while he was doing his homework.
Instead of exiting the house, Brice kicked in his father’s bedroom door and ran into the bedroom.
Allegedly, the father grabbed a pocket knife in his room and stabbed himself.
On further questioning, the teen admitted he made up the 911 call story. He said he stabbed his father with the pocket knife, and then his father started stabbing himself.
Brice acknowledged using marijuana, acid, shroomies, and alcohol, but said he quit a few days before the incident. He acknowledged mental-health issues but said he was never violent toward others, only himself.
On continued questioning, he said another “being” or psychosis took over, and things that night were fuzzy and unclear.
When Lt. Feeney told him the story did not line up with the evidence, Brice said, “Then the evidence was probably the truth.”
The court viewed a video of Feeney and the BCI agent’s interview with Brice. His mother was present for the questioning.
In the courtroom, under cross-examination by Evan Wagner, Guardian Ad Litem for Brice, Feeney said he had heard of alleged abuse by the father. He acknowledged he had taken no steps at this point to confirm or verify that the father was abusive toward the teenager.
Autopsy report shows multiple penetrating wounds
Dr. Maneesha Pandey, a forensic pathologist with the Licking County Coroner’s Office, testified that the deceased had five penetrating wounds and one superficial wound to the chest and abdomen.
A seventh wound was on his right hand.
The chest and abdominal wounds ranged from 3 inches to 7 inches deep. Wounds were horizontal, vertical, and oblique (at an angle).
The abdominal wound pierced the liver, diaphragm, pericardial sac, and heart.
Pandey testified that the wounds could have been self-inflicted or inflicted by someone else. The toxicology exam showed no drugs or alcohol present.
A juvenile co-worker testified that during a Snapchat conversation with Brice around 2 or 3 a.m. on Dec. 9, Brice mentioned killing himself and his father. However, she said she thought he was joking.
She spoke with school officials the next day because she was worried that he might be serious.
She also testified that Brice was allegedly being abused at home.
Kassie Hay testified that Brice had increasingly frequent outbursts at home, although they were not directed toward anyone other than himself.
On law enforcement’s advice, she and Kevin Hay locked up kitchen knives in both homes and installed locks on their bedroom doors.
She provided Brice’s diary, in which he had drawn a figure with blood on its belt and a bloody knife.
If the juvenile court finds probable cause that Brice Hay committed the acts, he will be tried in Knox County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Nixon expects to issue his ruling next week.
