Brian Keith Griffin pleaded guilty to murder in the November 2024 stabbing death of Tammy Bogue.

MARSHALL, Texas — A Harrison County judge sentenced Brian Keith Griffin to 30 years in prison after Griffin pleaded guilty to murdering his mother in the apartment they shared in Marshall in November 2024.

The sentence closed a case that began with Griffin’s own 911 call and ended without a trial. Griffin, 37, admitted to one count of murder in the death of Tammy Christine Griffin Bogue, 55. Judge Brad Morin of the 71st Judicial District imposed the sentence shortly after the plea. Prosecutors said the agreement spared the family a trial while still holding Griffin responsible for the killing.

The fatal stabbing happened Nov. 27, 2024, at a family apartment on Norwood Street in Marshall, a city in far East Texas near the Louisiana state line. Court records said Griffin called 911 just before 12:45 p.m. and reported what he had done. Officers went to the apartment and found Bogue on the floor with multiple knife wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Griffin’s role was clear from the start because he stayed at the scene and later gave a statement. In a probable cause statement, police said Griffin admitted during a custodial interview that he stabbed his mother multiple times and intended to kill her.

District Attorney Reid McCain said the case could have become a fight over mental health evidence if it had gone before a jury. Griffin said at sentencing that he had been treated for mental illness several times and once after a suicide attempt. His lawyer noted that Griffin had been found competent to stand trial. Griffin also admitted he was not legally insane when Bogue was killed. McCain said the trial likely would have involved dueling experts over Griffin’s mental condition. If convicted at trial, Griffin could have faced a sentence of up to 99 years in prison. The plea deal fixed the punishment at 30 years, below the possible maximum but within the range discussed with the family.

Family members gave the sentencing a second focus: Bogue’s life and the betrayal they said they felt after her death. Her obituary described her as a daughter, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother and friend who loved fishing, family gatherings, cookouts and riding back roads while listening to music. It said her grandchildren brought great joy to her life and that she was known for humor and jokes. Bogue was preceded in death by her daughter, Kristin Bogue, and her husband, Wiley Bogue. She left behind parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, other relatives and friends in the Marshall area.

Bogue’s sister rejected any attempt to explain the killing only through Griffin’s mental health history. She said Griffin should have taken medication if he intended to blame illness for the attack. “This was not a tragedy,” Bogue’s sister said in court. “It was a betrayal of trust to our family.” She said Bogue deserved to grow old and to love and be loved. The sister also pointed to the words investigators said Griffin used after the killing. “And like you told the investigators, ‘She had to go,’” she said. “Our final words to you, Brian: ‘Now you have to go.’”

McCain said the family understood both sides of the case. He said relatives loved Griffin but believed he had to face punishment. The prosecutor said family members agreed to avoid a trial and supported a sentence in the 30- to 40-year range after several conversations. The agreement meant jurors did not hear evidence about the 911 call, the knife wounds, Griffin’s police statement or any expert testimony about his mental health. It also meant Bogue’s family did not have to return to court for a contested murder trial.

Police had first described the case as a fatal stabbing of a relative. Later records identified Bogue as Griffin’s mother and said they shared the apartment where she died. The home was in the 2700 block of Norwood Street, an area of Marshall about 40 miles west of Shreveport, Louisiana. The killing happened the day before Thanksgiving in 2024, leaving family members to plan a funeral days later. Bogue’s obituary was published Dec. 4, 2024, and remembered her as someone who expressed love to people she knew.

Griffin’s guilty plea ended the criminal case in Harrison County court. The sentence sends him to prison for three decades, with any parole timing to be handled under Texas law. As of April 27, 2026, the next major step is his transfer into state prison custody.

Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.