George Randall described the attack as planned, intentional and aimed at his mother’s neck according to police.
CHANDLER, Ariz. — Statements police say George Randall made after his arrest are at the center of an attempted murder case alleging he stabbed his mother in the neck while she slept May 15.
The criminal case against Randall, 25, turns heavily on what investigators said he told them after officers responded to the Chandler home. Police said he admitted thinking about the attack for weeks, choosing his mother’s neck to strike vital arteries and feeling no remorse after she survived. He is charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Investigators said Randall’s most direct statement came after he was taken into custody. “She loved me and I stabbed her,” he told police, according to an arrest affidavit. Police said he also described being surprised that he did not feel bad and said the stabbing was “easy.” In the affidavit, investigators wrote that Randall said he wanted his mother to die and did not care whether she was alive or dead. Those alleged comments are now part of the record prosecutors are expected to use to show intent. Randall has not been convicted, and the case remains pending in Maricopa County.
The charges followed an emergency call around 4:30 a.m. from a home near Elliot and Alma School roads. Police said Randall’s mother had been sleeping on a recliner or couch when she woke up to him attacking her with a steak knife. The affidavit said she shouted, “He’s stabbing me,” and then, “He is killing me.” The screams alerted three other family members in the home, identified only as Randall’s father, brother and sister. Police said Randall’s father confronted him after the attack and relatives notified authorities. Officers arrived and detained Randall at the residence.
At an initial court appearance, a prosecutor said the victim was stabbed in the side of the neck, lost consciousness from blood loss and needed surgery. Her condition later stabilized. Authorities have not identified her publicly or released a full medical account. The public record does not say how many wounds she suffered, whether the knife struck any artery or how long she remained in the hospital. Police described the weapon as a red-handled steak knife taken from a kitchen drawer. Prosecutors said the location of the wound showed Randall intended to cause the most damage.
The police narrative begins about 90 minutes before the emergency call. Around 3 a.m., the affidavit said, Randall asked his mother to talk. He later told investigators he wanted to tell her about struggles he had been hiding from relatives. Police said he believed the conversation went badly. He allegedly said she did not console him, did not give him the care he expected and did not seem to care about his feelings. Investigators wrote that he described her as “narcissistic.” After she fell asleep, police said, Randall decided to attack. The affidavit said there had been no argument, fight or conflict immediately before the stabbing.
Police said Randall walked from the living area to the kitchen, removed the knife from a drawer and returned to his sleeping mother. Investigators said he stabbed and scratched the right side of her neck. He allegedly told officers the neck was chosen because he wanted to damage vital arteries. That detail matters because attempted first-degree murder requires proof of intent, not only proof that a victim was hurt. Prosecutors are likely to rely on the alleged planning, the selected target, the sleeping victim and Randall’s own words to argue that the act was meant to kill.
The affidavit also included family accounts of recent changes in Randall’s behavior. Relatives said he had lost his job months earlier and suffered an injury while working out. They told police those events left him withdrawn and isolated. The day before the attack, family members said, he paced frantically in the home, spoke and responded to a voice that was not there, stripped to his boxers and lay in a hallway. They said they had not seen him have a violent outburst like the stabbing before. Authorities have not said whether any doctor had evaluated him before the incident.
Randall’s own comments about mental health, as described by police, were mixed. Investigators said he first claimed a demon named “Barricles” told him to carry out the stabbing. The affidavit said he later said that was false and that he had acted on his own. Police wrote that Randall said he mentioned voices and a demon because he thought it might lead to placement in a psychiatric ward. Investigators also said he acknowledged that stabbing his mother was illegal and wrong. No public court record has confirmed whether a mental health evaluation, competency hearing or insanity defense has been requested.
The first hearing set the immediate terms of the case. The prosecutor described the attack as completely unprovoked and said Randall had thought about killing his mother for weeks. The state asked for a $1 million cash-only bond, citing the seriousness of the allegations and concern that Randall could hurt others. The judge granted that request. A cash-only bond differs from many secured bonds because the full amount must be posted in cash for release. Any later request to reduce or modify bond would have to be made in court.
The attempted first-degree murder charge puts the alleged confession under close legal scrutiny. Defense lawyers often examine whether a statement was voluntary, whether proper warnings were given and whether a defendant understood the questioning. Prosecutors may argue that Randall’s words align with the physical evidence and witness accounts. The family’s statements, the victim’s injuries, the timing of the emergency call and any knife recovered from the home could all become part of the proof. The public affidavit does not include every piece of evidence collected, and police have not released body camera footage or 911 audio.
The case also leaves a difficult gap between family concern and criminal accusation. Relatives told police Randall had shown odd behavior, but the affidavit said he later claimed he invented the demon story to seek psychiatric placement. Police said he understood the act was wrong. A court could still order evaluations or hear expert testimony if his mental state becomes an issue. Until then, the official case is built on a narrower claim: Randall allegedly planned the attack, waited until his mother was asleep and used a kitchen knife on her neck because he wanted her dead.
Randall remained jailed on the $1 million cash-only bond after the May 15 arrest. The next step is the continuing Maricopa County prosecution, where the court will address charges, evidence and any mental health motions.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.