A teenager stabbed his stepfather to death then filmed the aftermath on Snapchat after an argument over him doing chores, it has been alleged.
Nickolas Vinson, 19, is accused of murdering his stepfather Oscar Lemar Owensby, 50, at their home in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday night.
Police say he lashed out and stabbed him multiple times with a seven-inch blade that had a brass-knuckle-like handle.
Owensby, who worked at a local family sports bar, suffered stab wounds to the back, neck and shoulder.
The argument allegedly began with the man asking his stepson to do more chores and contribute to household expenses.
They had been arguing over text message until Nickolas, whose family call him Nick, arrived home and confronted him.
According to police records, he summoned Owensby to his basement bedroom and plunged a seven-inch blade into his back, shoulders and neck several times.
Nickolas Vinson (left) is accused of murdering his stepfather Oscar Lemar Owensby (right) on Friday then filming the bloody aftermath on Snapchat. Vinson’s mother Celena (center) was in their home in Aurora, Colorado, at the time of the alleged attack and could be heard yelling ‘Lemar, can you hear me?’ as he languished on the ground
His mother Celena ran downstairs and was filmed when he began his Snapchat video, standing over her partner screaming ‘Lemar can you hear me? No!’.
Nick fled in a car but was later arrested by police. Owensby died in hospital.
It is not clear who called police first but the mother of a girl who viewed the Snapchat video alerted authorities to it.
Owensby was taken from the family home to hospital but he died of a punctured aorta.
According to The Denver Post which obtained a copy of Vinson’s arrest affidavit, Nick and his stepfather had been arguing over text before the attack.
When the teenager arrived at home, Nick claimed Owensby challenged him to a fight.
Owensby then went out to pick up Celena and returned home where Nick was in the basement.
He refused to go upstairs to discuss the matter and, as he stood next to his mother, summoned Owensby downstairs.
Owensby had lived with Vinson, his mother and brother for 14 years (seen above when the teenager was a boy). According to police records, Nick lashed out after he asked him to do the chores and contribute to household expenses
Police say they found a trail of bloody footprints at the family’s home in Aurora, Colorado, after the stabbing. Nick had fled the scene in a car and was later picked up by police. The trail led from his bedroom to the garage
Lemar and the teenager’s 45-year-old mother Celena had been together for 14 years
After allegedly stabbing him repeatedly and fleeing the house, the teenager called his brother Kyle and told him about the attack.
He said Owensby had been threatening to throw him out.
The 50-year-old died in hospital not long after the attack
He then also spoke with police on the phone and told them he would hand himself in but was saying goodbye to friends.
Nickolas was arrested in his car in Aurora.
When police searched the family home, they found blood spatter on the walls of the teenager’s bedroom and a trail of bloody footprints from the basement to the garage.
He remains in county jail on a single first degree murder charge and has been denied bond.
The teenager was due to appear in court on Wednesday morning.
Neither his mother nor his brother has commented publicly on the killing.
One of Owensby’s cousins remarked that he had been ‘brutally’ murdered in Colorado.
Owensby and Celena had been together for 14 years.
Aurora, which is home to around 300,000 people, is where gunman James Holmes slaughtered 12 innocent movie-goers at a cinema in 2012 at a showing of The Dark Knight Rises.