Update: Tauris Morrell Sills was sentenced in Norfolk Circuit Court to 40 years with eight suspended for the murder of his grandfather.
He pleaded guilty with no agreement in June.
Norfolk, Va. - A 37-year-old Chesapeake man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting an 84-year-old Norfolk man who later died as a result of his injuries.
Tauris Sills is now charged with second degree murder, and admits to NewsChannel 3 he killed his grandfather, James Johnson, but says he didn't mean for it to happen.
"I don't understand it myself. How could I do it? I think about it every night," Sills told NewsChannel 3 in a jailhouse interview. "I ain't mean to do it. I'm sorry. I apologize."
Sills said he stopped by his grandfather's house last week to use the restroom. He says for no reason he pushed his grandfather to the ground and started kicking him. "I don't understand what happened. I just do know I pushed him and started kicking him. I don't know what possessed me to do it," Sills said.
Johnson was transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and died on January 2nd as a result of his injuries.
Sills says he suffers from mental illness, but can't explain how that impacted what happened. "I just blacked out. I never hurt nobody in my life," he said.
Family members didn't want to comment on the interview, but say they were aware Sills is mentally ill.
They say Johnson was a a great man and will be laid to rest this weekend.
