The events
Paris Bennett was 13 years old when he stabbed his 4 year old sister after sexually assaulting her multiple times. You might be wondering why search a young person could do such a thing and in the words of the killer he wanted to ‘punish’ his mother in the worst way possible.
On the night of the 5th of February 2007 whilst his mother lee was at work, bennett tricked the babysitter into leaving the house early. Tested to have an IQ of 141 Bennett is said to be an expert at manipulation this had been a planned attack. As soon as the baby sitter left the house at around 10pm Bennett entered his sisters bedroom and begin sexually assaulting her before stabbing her 17 times. These wounds were not delivered in a frenzy but were slow and deliberate, making this act even more shocking.
Following the brutal attack he then called a friend before calling 911 and telling the officer; “I unintentionally killed someone,” the officer reacted, “You think you killed someone?” Paris said, “No, I KNOW I did. My sister…. I feel so messed up.” Bennett was subsequently arrested at the scene whilst the officers processed the horrific act.
Sentencing and interviews
After the arrest Bennett confesses that he killed his sister because he had a visualization in his brain that his sister seemed like a pumpkin-headed evil. Later Bennett confessed that he arranged the murder too cause the maximum pain to his mother, making comments like ‘I love watching your pain’ towards his mother. Paris was angry about his mothers drug relapse and used this as justification for his crime. During this confession Bennett told the police that after stabbing his sister, he pulled out the knife slowly and that the feeling was akin to stabbing a marshmallow or a mattress. The cold and detached way in which he describes this just highlights the lack of remorse felt, he is almost comparing his sister to these objects. Given his confession and the overwhelming evidence he was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment at the Ferguson Unit Texas State Prison. He is now 26 and will be eligible for parole in 2027.
The interview with piers morgan, the full interview can be found on Netflix under the title ‘interview with a physcopath’. Just listening to him talk about the murder in an emotionless, dull voice is something which jumps out straight away, without listening to the words you could say someone was describing their daily life. It is clear why he did this interview due to his approaching parole (in 2027) he wanted to create an image of reform about himself. This is key to remember throughout to take his words with a pinch of salt. He goes on to say how he loves his sister but its clear he doesn't know what love is. In another comment he mentioned how one mistake should not cost him his life, but it is difficult to see how a release from prison would not bring immense danger to society.
The devastation left behind
Bennett did what he set about to do and caused immense pain for his mother. Years later, Lee has revealed details of her conversation with her son in the aftermath of the traumatizing incident. Bennett told his mother that he had consumed countless hours of violent, pornographic content, which had driven him to sexually assault his baby sister. This highlights the destructive powers of videos shared online which may have increased the chances of this murder taking place. In a quote just a month after the murder lee wrote “My son is a monster, and because he is a monster, I have lost my daughter,”. In another entry just three years after Lee stated, “He sexually abused her that night, and he admitted the more violent he became, the more excited he became, ending in death for her and climax for him,”. Even a mother having to make this comment is sickening and just shows the true pain caused by these actions.
Due to unconditional love lee still visits her son and allows him contact with her other child. She later wrote “My son is a psychopath. I can’t help him. That may not matter in the long run. What may matter is I can’t, not at this point, give up on him either,” she writes. “I love my firstborn with as much intensity as I have since the day I found out I was pregnant with him.” This is a shocking tale of unconditional love that no one can truly understand unless put into that situation.
Either way you look at this its a tragic story, a mother lost both her children in one act. The pain of knowing her daughters killer was her own son must be huge. For further information check out the documentary over on Netflix.
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