Renton man charged with murdering mother, slashing police officer
Published 5:53 pm Wednesday, August 5, 2026
The Renton man arrested for stabbing his mother to death and assaulting a police officer has been charged with murder, burglary and assault.
On Aug. 6, Christopher Mott, 42, was charged with murder in the first degree, burglary in the first degree and assault in the first degree.
The charging documents said at 11:56 on Monday, Aug. 3, Renton police responded to reports of glass breaking and other suspicious noises at Cedar River Terrace Apartments on the 100 block of Burnett Avenue South in Renton. When they arrived, an officer spotted a Holt in the parking lot of the apartment complex. When Officer Justin Kauppila approached Hott he ran. After being chased down several streets, Holt pulled a knife from his waistband and allegedly slashed Kauppila’s face, causing damage to his right eye and the right side of his face. The officer was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. Kauppila then used his taser on Holt and he was taken into custody. During the arrest, reports say Mott said “I just [expletive] killed my mom.” Kauppila was discharged from the hospital on Aug. 5 and is continuing to recover at home.
At the apartments, the maintenance manager identified Mott from security footage as the adult son of resident Colleen Marie McCue, 79, at the subsidized senior housing for people 62 and older. The officers went to McCue’s room, concerned for her wellbeing after Holt’s remarks during arrest. There, they found the body of an adult female matching McCue’s physical description with multiple stab wounds. Since McCue was the only known person to live inside the unit, police believe the female victim to be McCue.
According to the charging documents, the surveillance footage showed Mott using a parking sign to smash the glass front door of the complex. The video then shows Mott entering the north stairwell of the building with a knife in hand, before exiting the same way, seven minutes later, with blood on the arm that had been holding the knife.
Holt remains in the King County Jail. The court set the bail at $5 million, the amount King County prosecutors requested.
