BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — A Knoxville man accused of stabbing and killing his mother and a cat in Blount County will face a felony first-degree murder charge after a grand jury indicted him on Friday.
Zachary Hayes is accused of killing his mother last fall, according to the Blount County Sheriff's Office. A judge ordered his case to be heard by a grand jury. According to an indictment signed on March 4, the grand jury determined there was enough evidence to charge him with first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, aggravated cruelty to animals and knowingly killing an animal.
Hayes was being held at the Blount County Jail on a more than $1 million bond. He was originally charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, intentional killing of an animal and aggravated burglary.
On Sept. 8, 2023, deputies said Hayes broke into his mother's home on Samples Road in Louisville and stabbed her multiple times. BCSO said the autopsy revealed the mother, 63-year-old Kimberly Hayes, had been stabbed even after she died. Deputies said they also found a cat that had been stabbed to death.
Deputies arrested Zachary Hayes on Sept. 9. According to an affidavit, a BCSO detective who interviewed Hayes said he confessed and provided specific details about the crime scene and evidence that only the killer would know.