HOUSTON – In a jailhouse interview with KPRC 2 News, a man accused of fatally stabbing a teenager in southeast Houston claims he didn't do it.
Edward O'Neal faces a murder charge in the death of Ryan Robert. Police said he admitted to his role in the death of Ryan Robert.
In a jailhouse interview with KPRC 2 News though, O'Neal, 18, denied the allegations.
"He had this planned out, and he can't sit there and say he didn't. You don't just sit there and kill somebody out of the blue like that," Robert's mother, Christina Roberts, said.
O'Neal told KPRC 2, "Why would I kill my best friend who did nothing to me?"
That's what makes it harder for Christina Roberts to understand.
"He was best friends with Ryan. Ryan treated him like a brother, with my youngest one here. I treated him like a son," Roberts said.
Police found her 16-year-old son stabbed to death near the 610 overpass off Holmes Road on Jan. 19.
Neighbors have said O'Neal killed Robert during a satanic ritual and that he practiced in an abandoned home on St. Augustine. It's an allegation that Christina Roberts denied.
O'Neal said he does worship the devil, but maintains he did not kill Robert and instead claimed another friend did it.
When we emphasized to O'Neal he could face a long prison sentence, he looked a bit shocked and said, "I'd rather be dead, than be in jail."
Christina Roberts wants the same thing.
"I wish the death penalty would be to where the murderer would sit there and suffer the same way the victim suffered," she said. "He has no remorse on what he did. He doesn't know how much he has messed up my family."
O'Neal remains in jail on a $50,000 bond.