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Okay, what's going on? >> My son won't stop breathing. >> He won't stop breathing? >> Right. >> On February 21st, 2025, a mother in Holland, Michigan makes a chilling call requesting help for her teenage son. But the bizarre plea is actually the final stage of a plan that's been unfolding for hours. >> Like is he like breathing too fast? I don't >> We were going to leave yesterday and it got way out of hand and I couldn't get him to stop breathing like he made me promise to do. >> Okay, so is he asking you to like kill him? I don't understand. >> that's what I've been doing for a while and I can't get him to stop breathing. >> How old is your son? >> He is going to be 18 tomorrow but he didn't want to turn 18. >> Are there any weapons in the home? >> I have I used a knife. >> Did you cut him? >> It got out of hand. >> Okay, what happened? >> It was supposed to just be easy and he was just going to go to sleep and it didn't work. And he kept telling me not to let him go to the hospital. >> Okay, where's the knife now? >> It's in the room. >> With him or with you? >> With him. >> Okay. I want you just to leave it where it's at, okay? >> The woman, 39-year-old Katelyn Austin Lee, says she and her son, Austin Packard, have purposely taken a lot of medicine. She claims he's not awake but is still breathing. And what she says next adds another troubling layer. >> We don't want to be here anymore. We're done. >> I just I need to >> I didn't do this out of hatred, it was out of love. >> Okay. >> The world is not going to be okay for him. >> When you last saw your son, how many cuts did he have on him? >> It was only supposed to be one. >> Okay, it was supposed to be one but how many are there? >> work. >> So there's three. >> Okay, where did you cut him? >> On the arteries. >> On where? >> On his throat and his arms. >> Both arms? >> Just one. He didn't feel anything. >> Did he pass out before you cut him? >> Yes. >> Okay, was that due to the medications? >> Yes. >> The dispatcher has police en route, but Katie's words push the already urgent situation into a critical direction. >> Okay, and he's >> He's not breathing anymore. He died a long time ago. >> No, hang on, Katie. I got a couple more questions. >> But are you really going to not going to see them? >> Well, Katie, we're going to talk You need to puke? >> The police are downstairs right here. >> Okay, yep, I want you to keep your phone only your phone in your hand, Katie. Nothing else. Katie? >> Drop it. Drop it. >> Drop Drop the knife. DROP THE KNIFE. DROP THE KNIFE. PLEASE, JUST LISTEN to me. All you I need you to just drop the knife. I please, for the love of God. No good. No good. Ma'am, please. There you go. There you go. Thank you so much. Please, just come out to the hallway. >> As officers attempt to diffuse the encounter, Katie makes a desperate move. >> Come on. MA'AM, STOP. STOP. HERE WE GO. MA'AM, DO NOT MOVE. DO NOT MOVE. YOU'RE GOING TO GET TASED AGAIN, OKAY? You're fine, okay? Do not move. Checking the status of the boy inside the inside the apartment. CALL OUT HOT POLICE. CALL OUT ALL POLICE. >> RIGHT HERE. >> YOU WANT right here? No movement. >> You guys good down there? >> Yep. >> Keep her on on your stomach. There you go. Put your hands on the small of your back. Okay, put your hands behind your back. Is all the blood on you from your son? I'm going to sit you up, okay? Can you put your legs straight? >> As one officer keeps an eye on Katie, the others find Austin deceased in his bed and covered in blood. Beside him lie cryptic notes that will soon shed light on his mother's apparent spiral. >> We really need to be with them. He didn't feel any pain, guys. >> [snorts] >> Just so let you know. >> Katie says she took several pills, including Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder. She's taken for evaluation while officers are left stunned by the discovery of Austin and the haunting messages left near his lifeless body. >> It's written in blood on the wall above his head, "Why?" >> Like the question, "Why?" >> Mhm. >> Did I even see that? I was I saw that there was like there's something written about Trump and something else in like a colorful thing and then in a notepad on the bed. >> At the hospital, Katie is Mirandized and begins to detail how the afternoon ended in horror and the pact she says she made between her and her son. >> And we were just talking about everything that's happening in the world today. And how it's going to be and I wrote some of it in that letter. >> When did you start talking about this? >> Did Did you Well, we've talked about it forever. >> What What is forever? Years, months? >> We always said when the end time comes, we had our plans. So, that's what I mean by forever. Just joking around, I guess. >> Okay. >> Yes, we wanted to wait. And then I I couldn't get it to happen. And that's why there's three. >> Uh are you referring to the cuts? Three cuts? >> Katie says she and Austin haven't left the house in 5 years. She claims he never made friends and didn't want to live to see his 18th birthday. She then decided to take matters into her own hands. >> So, I think you said it wasn't supposed to happen the way that it did. Can you Can you Can you tell me what was supposed >> go to sleep and I could maybe like go like this and he would just go out, but he was fighting back. Do you know how dumb this sounds? I know I never thought I'd be the one on an interrogation video. I watch them. But they all think they're not going to be on them until they are. >> As detectives press Katie for an explanation, her reasoning takes an unsettling turn towards fears of societal collapse. >> He was burning me at the age of years. I I don't want him to become something he recognized where I'm just trapped at least World War III was over. >> Detectives ask Katie to detail how Austin consumed the medications. She says it began the day before when she crushed several pills, including gabapentin, an anticonvulsant that can cause severe drowsiness. She then mixed them into water for Austin to drink. Katie admits that she herself did not take any pills until right before she made the 911 call. >> And did he know what he was drinking? Yeah? Did Did he understand the intent of what was going on? What was the discussion like around that? >> I can't remember the first thing that started it. I was thinking that it was a TikTok video. >> Okay. >> I showed him that I was telling him about it. Putin and the uh Trump and Putin kind of being on the same terms and >> Okay. >> instead of our allies [clears throat] and everything and it just was a conversation from that. >> What else did he take? >> Everything. >> Everything? >> That's why I I needed you guys to shoot me cuz he took so much that there wasn't going to be enough for me. >> Okay. >> And I wanted you guys to make sure to finish the job. >> Katie says that eventually she grabbed multiple knives and began searching online for instructions on how to do the unthinkable. >> I looked up videos how to do that, and then that >> Okay. >> got with that, and it went really quickly. >> Detectives question Katie about a journal they found filled with writings focused on existential anxiety and her concerns about the coming years. They also confront her about the disturbing lettering marked on the wall above Austin's bed. >> I have seen both Trump and RNC Jr. talking about it, you know, about sending mentally ill to wellness camps. >> And you were concerned? >> Wouldn't you be? >> Yeah, I'm just Okay. There was a some writing in blood. What was that about? >> So, what happened? >> What was it? >> Why? >> Okay. And did he write that or You wrote that? What was the meaning behind that? >> Why? Why am I doing this? Cuz I was so like a complete wreck. >> Is there anything else that you feel like we should know? >> I'm not a bad person. I know I look like a monster. >> Police records say that 17-year-old Austin was found covered in dried, clotted blood, leading investigators to believe that he'd been deceased for an extended amount of time. His obituary features a photo of him as a little boy. Contrary to Katie's claims, his family described him as a patient, gentle, kind-hearted soul with a love for fishing with his dad, roller coasters, and video games. According to court documents, as part of a plea deal, Katie Austin Lee pled guilty to the second-degree murder and torture of her son, Austin Dean Picard. She also played guilty to a charge of assaulting, resisting arrest, or obstruction of a police officer. She was sentenced to 60 to 90 years in prison. During her sentencing hearing, Katie addressed the court about Austin saying, "Quote, I love him with all that I am. It's endless, and my heart is broken." Watch our full videos as they were originally made with no randomly muted words or details cut. We've also dropped brand new Ewu videos available only on Ewu Plus. Available now on iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Google TV. Download Ewu Plus and see what you've been missing.

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