Michael McElrath on Friday morning pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and agreed to serve 25 years in the Tennessee Department of Corrections at 100 percent in the homicide of his 15-year-old son Dylan, who was a sophomore at Hixson High School.
Executive Assistant District Attorney General Cameron Williams said on Aug.
18, 2018, Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the 1800 block of Cotter Road, where McElrath, then 46, had shot his son multiple times.
General Williams said deputies found McElrath on the porch at a neighbor's house when they got to the scene. As the deputy approached the defendant and ordered him to the ground he said "I did it, I did it. I'm so sorry. I shot my son. I don't know why.”
General Williams said McElrath also killed the family dog.
The state had indicted McElrath for first-degree premeditated murder. Experts for both the state and defense agreed McElrath was suffering from “significant psychiatric symptoms” that hindered his ability to “exercise premeditation with reflection and judgment.”
Judge Tom Greenholtz approved the plea agreement.