Teen who plotted attack on parents blames 'bad temper' - Fox 2 News Headlines

The Yale teenager convicted of plotting to kill her parents says she did it because of her bad temper. Speaking from behind bars to the Times Herald of Port Huron, 19-year-old Tia Skinner says, "I regret all my decisions." 

Her father, 47-year-old Paul Skinner was killed in November of 2010 after chasing attackers Jonathan Kurtz and James Preston out of his home. His wife, Mara Skinner survived after suffering more than 25 knife wounds.

Police say Tia Skinner planned the murder because she was angry at her parents for taking away her cell phone and for forbidding her to see Kurtz, who was her boyfriend of two-weeks at the time.

Investigators say she drew the map of her neighborhood and a diagram of the Skinner home that led the murderers to the bedroom where her parents were sleeping. Skinner described what happened as "awful," saying "I regret all my decisions."

Skinner, along with Kurtz and Preston, were convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy last year and were all sentenced to life in prison without a chance for parole.

Now housed in a state prison near Ann Arbor, Skinner says she has not heard from her mother or anyone else in her family. "It's been rough. It's hard losing your whole family in a blink of an eye," she said. "It's tough because that's my family; they're supposed to stay by you through thick and thin."

Right now Skinner says she is taking life in prison one day at a time and hopes that one day, she'll be freed. She said she hopes the community knows she is sorry for her role in the attack.

"I believe that everybody deserves a second chance in life," she told The Times Herald.