Background: The Campbell County Courthouse in Gillette, Wyo. (Google Maps). Inset: Karla Smith after she was attacked by her son (GoFundMe).
A Wyoming teenager who faced a charge of attempted first-degree murder after stabbing his mother in the back while she slept will plead guilty to a lesser charge.
Tharles Smith was 17 years old when he plunged a knife into the shoulder blade of his mother, Karla Smith, 42, in June 2024. According to court documents obtained by the Gillette News Record, the family had been arguing about where the reportedly unruly teen should live if he continued to refuse to abide by household rules. At one point, his parents told police that he told his mother that he “was waiting until I am big enough to kill you.”
According to court documents obtained by the local news outlet Cowboy State Daily, Tharles Smith was going to be tried as an adult for the crime, but his defense team paused the case until the teenager received a mental evaluation.
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Now 18, Tharles Smith will plead guilty to attempted second-degree murder.
According to the Gillette News Record’s reporting, the family dispute concerning Tharles Smith’s behavior had been going on for several years leading up to the attack on his mother. He had reportedly threatened to kill both of his parents several times and engaged in cruelty toward animals “as a joke.”
Cowboy State Daily’s extensive reporting on the case described a troubled teenager and seemingly helpless parents trying to find a solution for his behavior. Karla Smith told the outlet that she had her son institutionalized when he was 16, but it only seemed to exacerbate his anger issues.
On the night of June 10, 2024, Tharles Smith was reportedly stewing in anger over his parents trying to move him out of their house. According to court documents, he told police that he was “too angry” to sleep that night and felt as if his parents “were trying to get rid of him.” While his parents slept, he took a knife with an 8-inch blade from the kitchen, sneaked into their bedroom, and drove the knife into his mother’s back near her shoulder blade.
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According to a GoFundMe page set up to help Karla Smith pay for her medical costs, she asked her son, “Why did you punch me?”
He reportedly responded, “No, you actually have a knife in your back. I stabbed you.”
To raise funds, Karla Smith also reportedly raffled off her son’s pig, putting that money toward her medical bills.
The knife broke two of her ribs, went through her scapula, and collapsed her lung. She spent two days in intensive care. Court documents stated that the doctor who treated her said she was “lucky” to be alive.
Just under a year after the attack, Tharles Smith will plead guilty to attempted second-degree murder. He is expected to be sentenced later this year.
