In December 2023, Connor Hilton, then 17, shot his buddies Ethan Riley and Benjamin Bliek within the head inside his house in Friendswood, Texas, in the end killing one.
When police arrived on the scene, Hilton was visibly distraught. In interrogation footage seen in a brand new report from CBS Information’ “48 Hours,” he cried and informed police, “What I did was fallacious. I have to do the punishment. I do know that. However I additionally need assistance. I would like actually, actually — I would like some assist.”
Hilton admitted to feeling suicidal and homicidal — he and his household declare a preferred prescription drug for zits was guilty for the uncharacteristically violent act.
Instantly after the capturing, Hilton informed police that he’d been in an argument together with his buddies and fired in self-defense. However in different moments — together with in an interview on the station — he informed a distinct story.
“I must be put in a psychological hospital,” he was heard saying on bodycam.
“I’ve had suicidal, homicidal ideas for thus lengthy,” he informed officers. “What I did was fallacious. I have to do the punishment. I do know that. However I additionally need assistance. I would like actually, actually — I would like some assist.”
His protection workforce claims the perpetrator was Accutane. The retinoid treatment is prescribed to deal with extreme zits and might resolve deep, painful cysts and nodules when different choices don’t work.
Although the brand-name drug Accutane is now not distributed within the US, its lively ingredient — isotretinoin — continues to be out there generically.
Whereas it’s efficient for preventing zits, it additionally has some fairly extreme dangers, warranting a “black field” warning for melancholy, suicidal ideas, hallucinations, aggressive and/or violent behaviors and even psychosis.
Researchers imagine this is because of how sure chemical substances within the mind that have an effect on temper, like dopamine and serotonin, are altered.
In a single 2014 case examine, a 27-year-old man who’d been taking the drug for 2 weeks developed acute psychosis and was satisfied his colleagues have been making an attempt to kill him, his cellphone was hacked and his laptop was being monitored. He returned to regular after discontinuing the treatment.
In line with police transcripts, Hilton confessed he’d been experiencing suicidal and homicidal ideas, convincing his mom to purchase the gun for him so he “may both shoot myself or shoot someone.”
The day earlier than the capturing, he reportedly missed his day by day dose of the treatment. So the day of the capturing, he took double.
“There’s numerous folks all through the world which have skilled negative effects from [isotretinoin] … together with psychiatric negative effects,” Doug Bremner, a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory College Faculty of Drugs, defined in an interview with CBS.
“I believe he turned psychotic on Accutane, and he had recurrent homicidal ideation that he was not capable of management.
“These… ideas didn’t happen earlier than he took Accutane,” added Bremner. “He went off the drug, and people ideas went away. After which he began the drug once more, and the ideas got here again. In order that’s thought-about to be proof mainly of a causal impact between a drug and a symptom.”
Hilton’s protection workforce had deliberate on utilizing the zits drug signs as a protection for {the teenager}’s violent actions, much like a 2018 Colorado case.
“Mainly, our skilled [Bremner] mentioned that due to utilizing Accutane, he was in psychosis and couldn’t management his conduct — it’s in step with what occurred on this case,” one in every of Hilton’s legal professionals, Rick DeToto, mentioned on the time. “That he was a standard child till he began utilizing Accutane.”
Nonetheless, the decide dominated that the knowledge was inadmissible for figuring out guilt, and Bremner couldn’t testify on Hilton’s behalf.
Hilton pleaded responsible to homicide and aggravated assault and was sentenced to 50 years in September of 2025.
Final week, Matthew and Tara Riley — dad and mom of Ethan Riley, who was killed — have been awarded $60 million in a civil go well with that decided that Hilton’s mom, Johnece Hilton, was grossly negligent in failing to maintain her son away from the handgun she bought.
If you’re combating suicidal ideas or are experiencing a psychological well being disaster and stay in New York Metropolis, you possibly can name 1-888-NYC-WELL totally free and confidential disaster counseling. For those who stay outdoors the 5 boroughs, you possibly can dial the 24/7 Nationwide Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
