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Olivia, MN (KROC-AM News) - A western Minnesota man today entered not guilty pleas to murder and other charges related to the stabbing death of his girlfriend's 13-year-old son after he came to her aid.

38-year-old Houston Morris is facing second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and second-degree assault charges for allegedly killing the teenage boy on the morning of March 24 at an apartment Morris shared with the victim's mother in Olivia. He is also accused of assaulting the boy's mother.

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The criminal complaint against Morris states that the 13-year-old boy managed to call 911 and report that he'd been stabbed in the chest with a knife. Olivia Police found him with life-threatening injuries and he was transported to a hospital where he later died. His mother was treated for a cut on her head, cut wounds on one of her hands, and bite marks on her arm.

The court document says the mother told investigators she grabbed a knife from under her bed to defend herself after Morris assaulted her by choking her and striking her on the head with a metal pipe and a piece of a metal bed frame. She stated Morris then gained control of the knife and was driving the weapon at her when he missed and stabbed her son.

Morris remains jailed in Renville County on $350,000 conditional bail. He is due back in court at the end of August.

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