Three Stabbed Teen To Death, Took Off With Victim's PlayStations In Home Invasion

Three young men have been arrested and charged with murder for allegedly stabbing a 19-year-old boy to death at his home and taking off with his PlayStations in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday, Oct. 28.

Taylor Scott Austin, 20; Tyrone Glen Davis, 20; and Daniel Fletcher Jackson, 18; have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for breaking into a Polk County home and stabbing Cory Elifritz, 19, of Norwalk, to death. After knifing the victim, the trio burglarized the home and even took the victim's PlayStation 3 and 4 before leaving him for dead, Law & Crime reported.

On Thursday, Oct. 28, officers were called to a home in the 1400 block of Searle Street, just east of Interstate 235. When officers reached the residence, they found Elifritz lying in a pool of his own blood and suffering from serious stab wounds. He was immediately transported to a local hospital, but succumbed to his fatal wounds and died.

According to the information obtained from the listed witnesses, Jackson had threatened the residents at the address and had blamed them for the arrest of his brother, Witness Donovan Jackson. The officers also found a direct threat to the residents of the home from Jackson’s social media account.

After the officers arrested Austin and Davis, they confessed to entering the residence through an unlocked door and burglarizing that home with Jackson, planning to sell what they took, KCRG-TV reported.

Davis stated that when he went into the bedroom, he saw a "white face," he fired a pellet gun four times into the victim’s face.

“Evidence at the scene clearly indicates that the victim was also stabbed repeatedly with a sharp object, and a broken knife was recovered at the scene, with the blade located in the immediate vicinity of the victim and the handle near the front door, where Defendants Austin and Davis described that they had exited the home,” police officers wrote.

Investigators said they also found blood on the front and passenger seat of a stolen vehicle linked to Austin, Davis, and Jackson. Evidence also indicates that prior to fleeing, Davis, Austin, and Jackson stole two gaming systems PlayStation 3 and 4 from the home, KCCI reported.

The trio remains at the Polk County Jail on a count each of murder in the first degree and burglary in the first degree.