Man who murdered mother and brother had 'brain injury,' family claims

FOX News

The grandfather of a 19-year-old Texas man who police say murdered his TV food reporter mother and brother said Tuesday the teen had a "brain injury" from multiple concussions and "snapped" the night of the attacks.

Stacy Fawcett, a popular food blogger and Dallas TV personality, and her 17-year-old son, Josiah, were stabbed to death April 8 by Fawcett's oldest son, McCann Utu Jr., according to authorities.

Utu called 911 to report the murders before turning the knife on himself inside the family's Plano, Texas, home, police said. He died at a hospital of self-inflicted wounds a short time later.

Stacy Fawcett's father said Tuesday that his grandson's disposition dramatically changed after suffering two concussions within a span of a few months.

"In no way do we hold him accountable," Brent Fawcett said of his grandson, a "standout" athlete who he claims fell on his head while playing basketball for Plano West High School in 2013 and was unable to play again.

"He was going up for a dunk and fell on his head and got knocked out," Fawcett said, adding that Utu suffered another concussion shortly after during a fight inside a locker room.

"He did not pass the test to play again," said Fawcett. "That was taken away and that caused a downward spiral."

"Every one of McCann’s friends will say that when he had the concussion, he just changed," he said.

Stacy Fawcett, a 45-year-old single mother from Plano, a Dallas suburb, worked as an on-air TV food reporter for ABC affiliate WFAA and a contributor to CBS radio station KVIL.

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