Prosecutor to seek death penalty in killings of mother, son in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri prosecutor plans to seek the death penalty against a man charged with fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 13-year-old son in a New Year's Eve 2020 attack that left two other children injured.

Greene County Prosecutor Dan Patterson said in a legal filing that he intends to prove 31-year-old Brandon King killed to avoid arrest, that the crimes targeted potential witnesses and were particularly brutal. All are factors that would allow the case to qualify for the death penalty under Missouri law.

Court documents say King told police he killed 32-year-old Stephanie Plumb and her son, Dylan Moore, because he was planning to flee the state to avoid prosecution in a forgery case and wanted to eliminate potential witnesses, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

Besides facing two counts of first-degree murder, King also is charged with assault and child abuse because Plumb's then 7- and 14-year-old daughters were stabbed but survived the attack in the family's west Springfield home.

King's court-appointed attorney James Hayes declined to comment Friday about the state's recent filing. But he noted during the preliminary hearing in 2021 that King's medication had changed on the day of the killings.