Wellesley’s James Floyd Bennett III, who was arrested on Thursday night after allegedly stabbing his father to death at Phillips Park, was arraigned on Friday on a murder charge in Dedham District Court. A not guilty plea was entered on Bennett III’s behalf, and he is being held without bail.
The suspect’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 10 for a probable cause hearing.
The 24-year-old Bennett III, known as Trip, had been playing soccer with his father and talking about the World Cup at the Wellesley Hills park before things allegedly turned violent for reasons to be determined, according to authorities. His father, 58-year-old James Floyd Bennett Jr., was pronounced deceased on Thursday night after being rushed to Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
Wellesley Police responded to the tragic scene at the park after receiving multiple 911 calls, and were assisted by state and other local police departments. The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office is taking the lead on the case.
Prosecutor Anne Yas told the court on Friday that “A witness heard the victim screaming for help. He screamed, ‘He’s stabbing me. He’s killing me.'” She said the elder Bennett had suffered about 20 stab wounds, and that his last words to authorities were letting them know his son had attacked him. Authorities found Bennett Jr. bleeding beneath at slide at the park’s playground, Yas said.
The prosecutor said that after the attack Bennett III headed to the home he shares with his mother, took a photo of himself, cleaned up, put his clothes and the knife into a garbage bag, and went to the Wellesley Police station to turn himself in. The prosecutor said the younger Bennett seemingly didn’t realize his father had died.
Defense attorney William Crowe said outside the court house on Friday that family members were in attendance to support the younger Bennett while mourning the loss of his father. In the court, Crowe told the judge that the younger Bennett has a significant mental health history that would need to be explored during further proceedings. (See Boston Globe story on Bennett III’s mental health struggles.)
The fatal stabbing has further shaken Wellesley, which before this year had not experienced a homicide in town since 1999. A memorial on a bench nearby the Phillips Park incident is dedicated to the MacAusland children, allegedly killed in Wellesley at home by their mother in April.
