Colorado Springs man says he was ‘possessed by a demon’ before stabbing mother
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Yeurashka Graham, the man accused of killing his mother and then setting her house on fire in May 2021, claimed he was "possessed by a demon" days before the fire, according to arrest documents. Graham faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly stabbing his mother, Theresa Graham, over a dozen times on May 10th, 2021.
That night, officers with the Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a fire at a single-family home at 22 W. Cheyenne Road after the Colorado Springs Fire Department found a body on the property.
Dr. Leon Kelly, the El Paso County Coroner, noted in the report that there were several bodily injuries including head and neck contusions, a stab wound to the forehead, rib fractures, a ruptured and pulpified spleen, and a hyoid fracture.
In total, she suffered a stab wound to her left forehead and 16 other incise wounds on her wrists and arms, according to the autopsy report.
Monday, Colorado Springs Police arrested Graham, who was already in jail on attempted first-degree murder charges for allegedly assaulting Colorado Springs Police officers with a metal pole and a religious statue hours after the fire broke out.
In the arrest affidavit obtained by KRDO, Graham allegedly told an associate during a jail phone call that a friend of his named Marian Fagan "put a demon inside him" days before May 10th, 2021.
Friday, we went to Fagan's home to ask her about their interaction at her home. She says they were talking about religion and Yeurashka accepted Christ in the early morning hours. She added his murder charge surprised her because "that was not the Yeurashka I know."
Then, on November 25th, 2021, Yeurashka allegedly told a jail guard, "I wanted to confess to a crime. I know that I killed my mother," documents say.
When the jail guard interviewed Yeurashka at the El Paso County Jail, documents say he told them, "I was possessed by demons. Drugs made me do it."
In newly released arrest documents, Yeurashka Graham, the Colorado Springs man accused of killing his mother in May 2021, claims he was "possessed by a demon." The affidavit says he told a jail guard, "I know that I killed my mother." I'll have more details tonight on @KRDONC13 pic.twitter.com/H2j8gTV2tb
— Sean Rice KRDO (@SeanRiceTV) April 1, 2022
After investigators contacted Yeurashka, he approached the jail guard and indicated that he wanted to hang himself. He was then transported to a mental health ward for observation.
Wednesday, KRDO spoke with Zechariah Andrews, the first person to call 911 to report the fire in May 2021.
"A long time coming. We knew it was going to happen, we knew what happened from day one," Andrews told KRDO. "We were speculating this whole time, we knew. The community around us knew. Why would you do this and then run to go up north and threaten police officers and stuff like that?"
Graham was supposed to face a jury on April 12th after he pleaded not guilty to the attempted first-degree murder charges. However, on Friday his defense attorneys asked the court to withdraw the not guilty pleas and have the case trail the first-degree murder case.
The court agreed to this and the jury trial will now be vacated. Graham will be back in court for a preliminary and show cause hearing in early May.
