Stabbing suspect undergoing evaluation at WGH | UPDATE

The suspect in a Freeland stabbing is undergoing an evaluation at Whidbey General Hospital.

Sean Paul Demerchant was arrested late Sunday night after stabbing his mother and father at their home in Bush Point Terrace.

Demerchant was arrested and booked into the Island County jail after the attack on two counts of first-degree domestic violence assault.

Sheriff Mark Brown said Demerchant is currently under guard at Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville.

"He's under observation for what I would call acute intoxication," Brown said. "We felt at the jail that it would be better that he be observed at the hospital."

Brown stressed that he was not offering a medical opinion on Demerchant's condition.

"I'm not an expert on medical matters," Brown said. "I'm not an expert at knowing what's in his system."

Demerchant had been expected to make his first court appearance Monday afternoon, but that hearing was not likely given his condition.

Brown said any court appearance would wait until the observation period had ended at WGH.

Demerchant was arrested after police were dispatched by a 911 call made by one of his parents at their Dolphin Drive home just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

Deputies arrived to find Demerchant's parents, Paul W. Demerchant, 73, and his wife, Norma J. Demerchant, 66, had both been stabbed in the chest.

Sean Demerchant was still in the home and was arrested without incident, Brown said.

Norma Demerchant remains in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Her husband was treated and released from WGH.

 

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