Jaylin Christian appears inset against an image of the house where he killed his grandmother in Rockledge, Fla. (18th Judicial Circuit Office of the State Attorney).
A Florida teenager will be spending several decades behind bars for the fatal stabbing of his grandmother in which he said the number of times he thrust the blade into the victim was “too many to count.”
In November 2025, Jaylin K. Christian, 19, signed a plea agreement on one count of murder in the second degree and entered that plea in a Brevard County courtroom, a spokesperson for the 18th Judicial Circuit Office of the State Attorney told Law&Crime in an email.
On Monday, the defendant was sentenced to 35 years in prison by 18th Judicial Circuit Judge Charles Crawford. The defendant will spend the rest of his life on probation after his release, the court ruled. The sentence stems from the particularly brutal death of Muriel Emerson, 57, who was killed in her family”s home in September 2022.
“She was his biggest supporter and champion,” Assistant State Attorney Mike Doyle said during the sentencing hearing, during which prosecutors argued for a life sentence, according to a press release.
The underlying facts of the case were never really much in doubt.
On Sept. 7, 2022, Brevard County Sheriff’s deputies began their investigation after 911 dispatch received a message regarding a hang-up call that led them to a gas station on Clearlake Road in Cocoa, a small town located roughly 45 miles southeast of Orlando.
There, responding deputies came into contact with Christian, who admitted to stabbing his own grandmother inside their house on South Carolina Avenue in nearby Rockledge. The defendant also provided deputies with a picture of the victim after the attack.
The Rockledge Police Department then followed up on the allegation and made their way into the residence. Emerson was discovered dead inside. The Brevard County Medical Examiner later ruled the woman’s death a homicide caused by at least 42 “sharp force” injuries, including nine stab wounds that pierced her heart and left lung.
Until the bewildering violence, the day had gone in typical fashion.
Emerson, who worked as a probation officer and had taken in the troubled teenager because he could not get along with his immediate family, picked her grandson up from school and the pair went home. Next, the woman sat down at her desk to do some work on the computer. Then, Christian attacked from behind with a kitchen knife.
“Digital evidence collected by Rockledge Police and prosecutors showed he had searched online for how to attack someone from behind and kill them with a knife,” the prosecutor’s office said in the press release.
Emerson finally died in her kitchen; her body was found covered in a blanket, and a large pool of blood had accumulated around the deceased woman by the time law enforcement arrived on the scene.
Deputies who arrested Christian said he was sitting on the ground close to a gas station in Cocoa when he was arrested, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Orlando-based CBS affiliate WKMG. At the time, the since-convicted teen had cuts on one of his hands and blood on his shirt. And that’s when the defendant made the statement about not knowing how many times he stabbed his grandmother.
At home that afternoon, Christian began experiencing homicidal thoughts, grabbed a knife, and went into the kitchen. Emerson tried to run, and the first knife broke, but the defendant grabbed another and finished up. Next, he packed a bag, stole some money and a briefcase from his victim, and took a photograph of the corpse before covering it with a blanket and leaving.
“Christian said he killed his grandmother in order to steal her credit card and run off with a male lover he met online,” prosecutors said. “Police have not connected anyone else to the murder.”
Family members continued to express bewilderment and pain during the sentencing hearing, according to the press release. Meanwhile, Christian’s mother “appeared satisfied with the resolution.”
