A man who beat his own grandmother to death while suffering a psychotic episode has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Hayden Leigh Kidd, 22, initially faced a jury trial in Ballarat Supreme Court, accused of murdering her grandmother Shirley Kidd.
Prosecutors told jurors he attacked the 68-year-old woman, hitting her head and torso with a hoe, at her home in Darley, west of Melbourne.
She was found with “critical injuries” near her garage around 10:30 p.m.
Hayden Leigh Kidd, 22, pleaded guilty to manslaughter accused of murdering her grandmother at their Darley home in May 2022.
Mrs Kidd could not be revived and died at the scene.
Neighbors heard screams just before police and ambulances arrived on the night of May 28, 2022.
“It was just a scream, like it was loud,” Chris Ward said.
“It just sounded like an argument.”
‘I could figure it out. “It was definitely an argument between men and women,” he told Herald of the sun.
Ward added that the argument lasted between five and 10 minutes.
Neighbors heard screams just before police and ambulances arrived and found Ms Kidd, 68, with “critical injuries”.
Kidd faced the Ballarat Supreme Court with a new charge of manslaughter against him on Friday.
Two psychiatrists agreed that Kidd was in an altered mental state at the time of the attack, probably caused by a cannabis-induced psychosis, the jury was told.
Kidd did not deny killing his grandmother, but instead argued that he was acting in self-defense because he truly believed she was his abusive former stepfather.
The trial lasted eight days in Ballarat, with evidence sought from the Kidd family, police officers and experts.
But on Friday, both the defense and prosecution requested that the jury be acquitted of the murder charge, with a new charge of involuntary manslaughter against Kidd.
The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and will return to court in June for a pre-sentence hearing.