A Michigan mother has pled guilty to the brutal murder of her teenage son, admitting she drugged him unconscious and slit his throat the day before his 18th birthday. She later told police she believed she was helping him die “on his own terms.” Katie Austin Lee, 40, of Holland, entered her guilty plea Wednesday in Ottawa County Circuit Court to charges of second-degree murder, torture, and resisting arrest.

A Calculated And Cruel Murder

Lee was accused of killing her son, Austin Dean Pikaart, on February 21 in what prosecutors described as a calculated and gruesome act of violence. Police say she first gave the teen a “mind-altering substance,” rendering him unconscious, before cutting his wrist and throat inside their apartment at Bay Pointe Apartments in Holland, about 30 miles west of Grand Rapids. The crime came to light when Lee herself called 911 around 4:15 a.m. and told dispatchers she “couldn’t get her son to stop breathing.” The operator, confused, asked, “He won’t stop what?” Lee repeated that she had been “trying to for a while.”

She Wanted The Police To Kill Her

When officers arrived, they found Lee armed with a knife and refusing to drop it. They were forced to use a Taser to subdue her before discovering Austin’s body inside. The autopsy confirmed the 17-year-old died from a deep cut to his throat. According to court documents, Lee told investigators that her son “did not want to turn 18” and had expressed a wish to die. Prosecutors said there was no evidence Austin wanted to end his life and described his mother’s story as an attempt to justify the unthinkable. “She told officers to kill her so she could be with her son,” Det. Sgt. Brent Sluiter said in his affidavit.

She Won’t Be Eligible For Parole Until She’s 100 Years Old

Lee’s courtroom confession was marked by tears. When Ottawa County Circuit Judge Jon Hulsing reminded her that she would not be eligible for parole until she was more than 100 years old, she quietly said she understood. Friends and relatives of Austin have struggled to make sense of the killing. A family member, Alisa Pikaart, wrote on a GoFundMe page that the teenager “was caring, humorous, playful, and most of all, loved his family and friends.” She described him as a kid who loved space, video games, and science fiction — “and someday, we plan to launch his ashes into space on an actual rocket ship for his final destination.”

Austin Was Just A Normal Kid

Neighbors recalled seeing Austin walking home from school, usually wearing headphones and a backpack. “He seemed like a normal kid,” one neighbor said. “To think about what happened inside that apartment — it’s just horrifying.” Lee’s sentencing is set for January 19, when the judge will formally determine how much of the rest of her life she’ll spend behind bars.