A Fairfax County teenager has pleaded guilty to stabbing his 19-year-old girlfriend to death during a heated argument about their relationship.
Lee T. Wiggins was 17 when he strangled and then stabbed Siobhan Russell in his Reston-area bedroom on April 12, 2009. He was 18 when he pleaded guilty to the crime Monday morning.
Recommended Stories
When police arrived at Russell’s house, they found Wiggins waiting for them outside. Authorities said Wiggins claimed to have “blacked out” during the argument and the next thing he knew he was on top of her, the knife plunged into Russell’s chest.
Wiggins then walked out of his bedroom, told his father about the murder and went into the garage to wait for the police, whom his father called. He has been held without bail since the murder. Wiggins was charged as an adult as would anyone over age 14 who is charged with murder in Virginia. He faces up to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced in October.
Just months before her murder, Russell spoke at her graduation from Fairfax’s Mountain View Alternative School. During her February 2009 speech, Russell told her fellow graduates, “I know that no matter where I go in my life, the lessons I have learned here will forever guide me in the choices I make,” the Centre View newspaper reported.
Wiggins’ attorney, Assistant Public Defender Karin Kissiah, said she flirted with the idea of having her client plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
But Wiggins wanted to take responsibility for the crime and entered the guilty plea.
Wiggins had a long history of mental health issues, Kissiah said. In 2007, he left Chantilly High School to receive an individualized education meant to help him better handle his psychiatric issues.
