Man Kills His Grandmother and Sends Photos to His Family, Calling Her a ‘Sacrifice for God’: Police

Authorities allege Christopher Holness Jr. stabbed his own grandmother 13 times before texting a photograph of her body to a family member

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Sean Neumann is a reporter at PEOPLE. He has been working at PEOPLE since 2019. His work has previously appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, ESPN, and more.

Published on January 21, 2025 11:55AM EST

A Washington, D.C. man has been charged with murder after police say he stabbed his grandmother to death and then texted a photograph of her dead body to other family members last Friday.

Christopher Holness Jr. was arrested on the morning of Friday, Jan. 17, at his grandamother Sandra Mundle’s apartment. Police responding to the scene found the 83-year-old retired school teacher lying dead in her bed after being stabbed in the chest more than a dozen times.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE, Holness called family members from his grandmother’s phone after killing her and told them he murdered the elderly woman as a “sacrifice for God,” sending a photograph of her corpse to them to prove it.

The news was first reported by The Washington Post this weekend, which reported family members describing Mundle as “a sweetheart who loved the grandson” who later allegedly stabbed her 13 times in the chest inside her fifth-floor D.C. apartment.

“She had to die,” Holness told officers, as they took him to a local hospital for laceration wounds on his hand, according to the court documents obtained by PEOPLE. “She was a sacrifice.”

Besides chest wounds, police also discovered various lacerations on Mundle’s eyelid, arm, and abdomen, as well as bruising to her eye and leg.

“Holness stated he stabbed her in the eye and sent a photograph of his deceased grandmother to [his family member] and other family members to confirm he did in fact kill his grandmother,” the affidavit says.

One family member told police they then received a call from the grandmother’s phone and were surprised to hear Holness calling from the phone instead, stating he had killed Mundle.

The family member said they initially didn’t believe Holness had killed his own grandmother, “but he then sent a photograph of his deceased grandmother lying in her bed, covered in blood, and appeared to be dead,” according to the affidavit.

Another family member then began recording their conversation with Holness after receiving the photograph.

“Christopher, let me speak to your grandmother,” the second family member asked him over the phone, according to the police affidavit, which cites a recording of their call.

“She’s no longer with us,” Holness responded.

The family member pleaded with Holness to call 911 and asked, “why did you do something to harm your grandmother?”

“Like I said, she was a sacrifice,” Holness responds, clarifying, “A sacrifice for God.”

Holness claimed that he “loved” his grandmother during the call. The family member told investigators that Holness had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, but they didn’t know if he was taking his medication, according to the police report.

The accused murderer is scheduled to appear in Washington D.C. Superior Court for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 30, according to court documents reviewed by PEOPLE. It is not clear whether he has entered a plea responding to the murder charge.