Man pleads guilty to killing Tacoma woman, son with hammer

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A 28-year-old man has pleaded guilty to murder for a hammer attack that killed a Tacoma woman and her son.

The News Tribune reports that Nicholas Lane pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of second-degree murder as part of a plea deal.

Officers had responded to a report of the assault in 2015 to find 78-year-old Joyce Coffel and her 57-year-old disabled son, Clifford Bennett, with life-threatening injuries. Bennett died at the scene and Coffel died about six weeks later from her wounds.

The attack took place at a home the victims shared with Lane's mother.

Pierce County prosecutors had said at the time that methamphetamine may have fueled the crime.

Lane said during the plea hearing Tuesday that he didn't remember the attack.