Suspect in murder, officer assault case named
Published 5:53 pm Wednesday, August 5, 2026
A suspect has been named in a domestic-violence murder and the assault on a police officer that occurred Monday night in Renton.
The King County Court found probable cause to arrest Christopher Mott of Kent, 42, for Murder in the Second Degree – Domestic Violence and Assault in the First Degree for the assault on the officer.
The police responded to reports of glass breaking and “other suspicious noises” at Cedar River Terrace Apartments on the 100 block of Burnett Avenue South just before midnight on Monday, Aug. 3. When they arrived, an officer spotted Mott in the area, who immediately ran. While running from the police, Mott allegedly stabbed the officer in the face with a knife. The officer, Justin Kauppila, was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. The suspect was taken into custody and the officer was later discharged from the hospital on Aug. 5. During the arrest, reports say Mott said “something along the lines of ‘I just killed my mom.’”
At the original crime scene, the officers discovered a trail of blood leading them to the body of a woman who had been fatally stabbed. The woman is thought to be Mott’s mother, Colleen Marie McCue, 79, who lived in the apartment the body was found in, but the woman’s identity has not yet been confirmed. McCue was a resident of Cedar River Terrace Apartments, which is subsidized senior housing for people 62 and older. The relationship between Mott and the victim has yet to be disclosed.
Mott remains in the King County Jail. The court set the bail at $5 million, the amount King County prosecutors requested.
