A Florida man is accused of killing his 16-year-old son with an angle grinder.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that Stephen Rodda was living temporarily with his grandfather, Thomas Rodda, to help him out while his grandmother was in rehab. The elder Rodda spent several hours visiting his wife Monday morning, and when he returned, he was met outside by his son, Stephen’s father, Stephen Thomas Rodda.

“I wouldn’t go in there if I was you,” Stephen Thomas told his father, Judd said. “I killed someone. You may need to call the police.”

The elder Rodda went into the home and found his grandson dead, while his son fled the scene. Judd said deputies caught up with him about a mile away.

“It breaks our hearts,” Judd said. “There aren’t adequate words to explain how horrific this event is.”

Judd said the teen was a junior at Frostproof High School and wanted to be an electrician. He was due to start a job next week to earn money to buy a car, his family said.

He was just a stand-up, stellar young man,” the sheriff said.

Stephen Thomas Rodda has a lengthy criminal history, Judd said, that includes an outstanding warrant in South Carolina. Family members told detectives he has used methamphetamines since high school and has psychotic episodes. The sheriff said that the suspect had spent a considerable amount of time living in various places around the country and had returned to his father’s home about a month ago.

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[Featured image: Stephen Rodda and Stephen Thomas Rodda (2021 booking photo)/Polk County Sheriff’s Office]