00:00:09
[ Festive music plays ] ♪♪ [ Suspenseful music plays ] -When police get to the scene,
00:00:50
the first person
that they come upon is Connor. And they're trying
to figure out what happened.
00:01:02
[ Police radio chatter ] The officers
aren't exactly sure when they walk into the house
what they're gonna see.
00:01:09
-And what do the police see? -Ethan first.
And then you see Ben. They were both shot in the head.
00:01:19
They immediately turn around,
and they say, "Detain him," talking about Connor. ♪♪
00:01:36
-He's gonna buckle you up,
alright? -I have your son in the back
seat of the patrol car...
00:01:40
-Uh-huh.
-...because he's indicated to us that he took two people's
lives today in your house.
00:01:46
-Okay. ♪♪ -He never had a temper. Always very mild, laid-back. -Had he ever been in trouble?
00:02:04
-No. Never.
-No. ♪♪ -[ Voice breaking ] My son -- he's a good boy,
he's a good kid.
00:02:15
-Relax, okay? -That was not him that night. I know that was him physically. But mentally, that was not him.
00:02:24
-Have a seat in here for me,
okay? -That night, he was just like,
"Why would I do this?
00:02:31
You know,
those were my friends." ♪♪ -Can you tell me anything
about your friends,
00:02:39
about Ethan and Ben? -[ Sobbing ] [ Sniffles ] I'm sorry. [ Breathes shakily ] ♪♪
00:02:54
All I'm gonna say is that they
were very good friends to me. That's all I'm going to say.
00:02:58
♪♪ -He talked about
that it was evil, what he did. He knew what he was doing. He wanted to pull that trigger,
and he did.
00:03:11
-[ Sobbing ] -Connor's accused
of shooting two friends. He admits that he did it.
00:03:23
What am I missing here? Why take this case on? -Well, because we wanted
to get to the truth
00:03:28
of what happened, the whys. -It is baffling to me. Out of the blue, a extremely incredible act
of violence was committed.
00:03:40
-After our research, we realized
that there was a reason. -An expert with the defense
saying the shooting was driven
00:03:52
by psychosis caused by
a popular acne medication. -You think the acne medication
put you in a mental state
00:03:59
where you could commit murder? -Yes, ma'am. [ Theme music plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -It was just before 9:00 p.m.
on December 23, 2023,
00:04:53
when police arrived on scene
in Friendswood, Texas. When police entered
Connor Hilton's home...
00:05:17
[ Police radio chatter ]
-Oh [bleep] -...they found 18-year-old
Ethan Riley and 19-year-old Benjamin Bliek
lying on the floor,
00:05:26
each with a gunshot wound
to the head. -They also discovered the boy
who called 911.
00:05:35
He was 15. -Are there any...in the house? -Because he's a minor, we're blurring the face
of the 15-year-old.
00:05:55
The teen told police officers
how quickly everything unfolded. In the house, unbelievably,
00:06:26
paramedics saw signs of life
in Ben and Ethan and worked to keep them alive. Outside,
police bagged Connor's hands
00:06:38
to preserve evidence before
putting him into a squad car. -[ Exhales sharply ] -Connor at first claimed he
fired the gun in self-defense.
00:07:22
[ Indistinct conversations ] -Uh-oh. -At the time of the shooting, Connor's mother, Johnece Hilton,
wasn't home.
00:07:32
-I got a message
from my neighbor that said, "Hey, something's going on
at your house."
00:07:36
And I was already
on my way home. -You pulled up,
and what did you see? -Yellow tape,
police cars everywhere.
00:07:45
-I'm gonna talk to you
something that's gonna be very hard
to talk about.
-Okay.
00:07:49
The police had me sit in a car,
and he told me. -[ Voice breaking ]
I cannot believe this!
00:07:55
-No, you know --
-This is insanity. -What was going through
your mind? -I just was like,
"How could this happen?
00:08:01
I was just there
45 minutes ago." And he was perfectly fine. -It wasn't long before Connor's father,
Neal Hilton, received word.
00:08:13
Johnece and Neal divorced back
when Connor was a toddler. -Never in a million years
would you think
00:08:20
I would get
that kind of phone call, you know, just knowing my son. -Ben and Ethan
were taken to area hospitals,
00:08:27
where they were fighting
for their lives. Nick McCanless,
then a detective with the
Friendswood Police Department,
00:08:35
was tasked with calling Ben's
mom, Shannon Bliek. -I get her phone number through
dispatch and call her up.
00:08:43
And I said, "Look.
Your son has been injured, and I need you to come up here." [ Suspenseful music plays ]
00:08:49
♪♪ -I just got in the car,
and I just started praying. -And what happened
when you got to the hospital?
00:08:59
-Nick met me
outside the doors, and he told me
that Ben had been shot, and I remember
falling to my knees.
00:09:09
And, you know, he was like,
"Come on. Let's go upstairs
and wait in the waiting room,
00:09:13
and let's find out
what's going on." -Eventually, a doctor came out
to speak with them.
00:09:19
-He said that Benjamin
had been shot in the head. It was all very surreal.
It just didn't make any sense.
00:09:27
I just kneeled on the floor
and just prayed. -What did you say
in that prayer? -I just asked
that He be with Ben
00:09:38
and that He please get us
through this. -While Ben underwent surgery... ...Connor Hilton was taken
00:09:49
to the Friendswood
Police Department. Nothing about that night
was making sense.
00:10:12
Soon, Connor would end up
in an interrogation room with an entirely new story
to tell.
00:10:19
-He literally just
kind of opened up, right? And it was
an emotional roller coaster.
00:10:44
-As his two friends were in the hospital fighting
for their lives... ...Connor Hilton was in
a Friendswood Police Department
00:10:55
interrogation room so that detectives
could start to unravel the truth of what happened.
00:11:05
-I knew nothing about him. I kind of went in blind, and so I had no idea if he was going to be
aggressive towards me.
00:11:19
Yes, sir. No, sir. -Very polite?
-Very polite. Not who I normally would sit
across from
00:11:25
and interview
right after a shooting. -It appeared the 17-year-old
didn't want to waste any time.
00:11:32
He launched into a story, and this time
he didn't mention an argument. Instead, he said it was
an accident.
00:12:17
-I'm letting him
stick with his story about it just went off, right? So I'm like, "Okay, well, how
did it go off the second time?"
00:12:28
And so I said, "Connor..." -That's when Connor Hilton
broke down. -It's like his whole
personality, everything changed.
00:12:45
-And so did his story
yet again. And Hilton didn't stop there. Hilton told the detectives
00:13:28
that he hadn't told anyone,
including his mom, that he'd been experiencing
those suicidal
00:13:34
and homicidal thoughts. -That interview was probably one
of the most honest interviews
00:14:10
I've ever had with a suspect. In a case where literally, they just poured everything
out on the table.
00:14:15
And, like, you could see
the sigh of relief. -So walk me through
what Connor said happened.
00:14:22
-Connor says
that he had planned this. His plan all along
was to shoot his friends.
00:14:31
-But he said he had
no specific target in mind. He'd invited a whole group
of friends over that night.
00:14:37
Ethan and Ben just happened
to be the ones who showed up. As for that 15-year-old
who went to the bathroom
00:14:45
as soon as he got there,
he simply got lucky. Before the interview ended, Hilton made
yet another admission.
00:15:17
-I could tell he was struggling
that night with "I knew this was what I felt, I knew this was what
I wanted to do,
00:15:22
but how I got here,
I don't know." -Connor Hilton was arrested
on two counts of aggravated assault
with serious bodily injury.
00:15:35
That night in jail, Hilton was allowed to make
a phone call to his mother. ♪♪ The next day, Christmas Eve,
00:15:58
Connor Hilton
was released on bond. -We got him home,
and then he just lost it. Fell on the floor, like, crying.
00:16:09
-Did he tell you
what happened? -I couldn't hear any of it. Like, I mentally
didn't want to hear.
00:16:17
♪♪ -The Riley family spent their
Christmas Eve in the hospital and were there when their son
Ethan died.
00:16:29
♪♪ -Somebody spotlight
these windows. -On Christmas night... -This is the Friendswood
Police Department.
00:16:40
-...officers were back
at Connor Hilton's door to arrest him
on a murder charge.
00:16:46
-I look out the window and
there's a SWAT truck outside. -Johnny.
-Yes, sir. Is he here?
00:16:51
-They came in.
-Yeah, they came in. -Where's he at?
-Where's he at? -He's right there.
-Hey!
00:16:54
-Hands, hands, hands!
Show me your hands. -I was kind of, like, in
the back of the house sort of.
00:16:58
And I just had my hands up. -Turn around.
Face away from me. -And they had
their guns drawn?
00:17:03
-Yes, ma'am. -[ Crying ] -Alright, come on. -Okay.
[ Indistinct conversations ] -Hilton was booked into jail,
00:17:30
but again,
the stay was short lived. He was eventually given a bond,
and his family posted it.
00:17:39
As Connor's parents
began grappling with what their son had done, Shannon Bliek was still
in the ICU with her son Ben.
00:17:50
-His head was bandaged
significantly. -She'll never forget
the moment she was first allowed
to see him.
00:17:58
-I saw him
and I started to hyperventilate. And a nurse grabbed me
and hugged me.
00:18:05
I composed myself
and I walked over. I said, "Benjamin, Ben,
Mom is here." And Ben opened his eyes
00:18:14
and kind of like, "I hear you,"
you know? -If there is any good news
in this story...
00:18:23
Ben, are you comfortable
with walking over here? ...it's that Ben Bliek survived.
00:18:30
How are you feeling today? -Good. ♪♪ ♪♪ -He has shown more resilience and more grit than any person
I could ever even know.
00:18:56
It's just like he's on a mission
to get better, and he just does it. -Shannon Bliek believes it's
a miracle her son Ben survived.
00:19:07
-Both bone flaps were removed, meaning the two big parts
of the skull. He had a tracheotomy
put in to breathe
00:19:14
and he had a feeding tube
put in to eat and he was paralyzed
on the right side. -Following the shooting,
00:19:24
Ben spent more than three weeks
in the hospital before being transferred
to an inpatient rehab.
00:19:29
-Yeah. -Not long after arriving there, remarkably, he was up
and walking. -Straighten it out.
-He was working so hard.
00:19:39
So hard. -According to Shannon, Ben would stay in that rehab
for over a month. -Excellent job.
00:19:46
-He had to learn
to swallow again. I mean, everything. -During that time, Shannon shielded her son from
the details of the shooting.
00:19:53
Ben doesn't remember anything
from that night. It wasn't until he came across
an article on his mom's phone
00:20:00
that he learned his friend
Connor Hilton pulled the trigger,
and that his best friend,
00:20:05
Ethan Riley, was killed. -I was really sad. -What was Ethan like? -He was just
an outstanding guy.
00:20:18
He looked on things
with a positive life. -You learn that this guy
that you were friendly with
00:20:31
was the one who shot you
and shot Ethan. -I was furious. -But Ben forced himself
to stay focused on his recovery.
00:20:44
At that point, Connor Hilton was out
on house arrest awaiting trial. His parents say
they were still dumbfounded.
00:20:51
-We knew that our son not in a million years in
his right mind would do that. We knew that.
00:20:56
-You think he wasn't
in his right mind? -Oh, yeah,
he definitely wasn't -- In his right mind,
he would never do this.
00:21:00
He's always been the sweetest,
loving boy ever. -In search of an explanation,
Connor's father, Neal,
00:21:07
began researching
a prescription acne medication his son had been taking
called Accutane.
00:21:14
The drug label warns
of risk of depression, psychosis, suicide, and aggressive
and/or violent behaviors.
00:21:23
Neal encouraged his son's
lawyers to look into it. -Something happened here. -Adam Brown...
-Something happened.
00:21:30
-It's an emotional case.
-...J.L. Carpenter... -These type of cases
are a challenge.
00:21:34
-...and Rick Tototo make up
Connor's defense team. -Connor had no trouble
with the law.
00:21:39
No trouble with school. -This doesn't make sense. -Something changed.
The kid changed.
00:21:46
What changed him? -What it came down to
in our research was the acne medication.
00:21:52
And my research led me
to Dr. Bremner. -My name is Dr. Doug Bremner. I'm a professor
of psychiatry and radiology
00:22:00
at Emory University
School of Medicine. -His CV is 96 pages long. -We didn't play around
when we got our expert.
00:22:07
-I don't think there's another
human being on this earth who knows more about this topic
than Dr. Douglas Bremner.
00:22:13
-Dr. Bremner says
he's done extensive research on isotretinoin,
the generic version of Accutane.
00:22:20
The drug is sold
under several brand names. He also gets paid
to testify in cases.
00:22:26
-It's a very strong
medication. There's a large number of people
throughout the world
00:22:31
that have experienced
side effects from it, including
psychiatric side effects. -Why is it still
on the market?
00:22:37
-Well, it's a great treatment
for acne, especially severe acne
that's cystic. -And that's what
Connor Hilton says he has.
00:22:45
-Ever since I was little, I've always had these bumps
on my bottom, sometimes on my armpit.
00:22:52
They would be extremely painful. I couldn't even walk.
Like, that's how bad they were.
00:22:57
We tried all sorts of medicine
to make it go away. And then one day we went to
the dermatologist
00:23:05
and they said, "Hey, we're
going to give you Accutane." -That was in late July 2022,
00:23:10
about a year and a half
before the shooting. Connor was 15 at the time. His mother signed this document
acknowledging the risks.
00:23:19
According to court-admitted
dermatology records, about a month later, Connor reported that
he stopped taking the medication
00:23:25
because he was "feeling symptoms
of depression." -I was feeling real down and didn't really feel
like doing anything.
00:23:33
-But Dr. Bremner
interviewed Connor at the defense's request, and Connor told him
00:23:38
that he wasn't
completely honest back then. He said that it was after
he started on the medication
00:23:44
that he began experiencing
homicidal thoughts too. -Did you tell anybody that
you were having these thoughts?
00:23:50
Did you try to get help? -I was scared to tell people
of my actual thoughts because I didn't want to go to
a mental hospital
00:23:55
and people think I'm crazy. -Connor told Dr. Bremner that when he stopped
taking the medication,
00:24:01
the thoughts subsided. -They slowly disappeared. I was feeling more energetic,
more, like, will to do stuff,
00:24:11
but I was also in pain
because of the bumps. They got worse again because
I wasn't taking Accutane.
00:24:16
-In January 2023, after several months
of being off the medication, Connor's dermatology records
show that he went back on it.
00:24:24
This time, he was given a lower
dose than initially prescribed. -Were you at all apprehensive?
00:24:30
Like, "Oh, this has messed
with my mind the first time. Maybe I shouldn't go back on
this stuff"?
00:24:34
-The bumps are so painful, I -- I just needed something
to cure it because it was so --
00:24:40
it was just unbearable. -Did the thoughts come back? -Yes, ma'am.
Slowly but yes, they did.
00:24:46
Suicidal and homicidal thoughts. -Connor told Dr. Bremner that the thoughts
eventually became consuming.
00:24:52
-It just amplified
the longer I was on it. -But he never reported
any issues to his dermatologist again.
00:25:00
Connor would continue
taking the medication on and off
for the next 11 months up until the time
of the shooting.
00:25:06
Connor told Dr. Bremner
that on that day, he took double
his prescribed dose. -He said that he had missed
the dose the day before.
00:25:15
So instead of taking two pills,
he took four pills. -After pulling
the trigger that night,
00:25:21
Connor said he stopped
taking Accutane and never experienced
homicidal thoughts again.
00:25:26
After speaking to Connor and reviewing the evidence
in the case, Dr. Bremner formed an opinion.
00:25:32
-Why do you believe
Connor Hilton shot his friends that night? -I think he became
psychotic on Accutane,
00:25:38
and he had recurrent
homicidal ideation that he was not able to control. -Dr. Bremner is firm
in his opinion.
00:25:45
-These thoughts did not occur
before he took Accutane. He went off the drug
and those thoughts went away.
00:25:50
And then he started
the drug again and the thoughts came back. So that's considered to be proof
basically of a causal effect
00:25:58
between a drug and a symptom. -You know that
people are going to look at this and say, "This is just
a family looking for an excuse
00:26:04
for the horrible thing
that their kid did." -Well, I think that, you know,
there was no motivation.
00:26:09
There was no history
whatsoever of conflict. This person was psychotic. -JG Pharma, the distributor
listed on the box of Accutane
00:26:19
that Connor Hilton was taking
at the time of the shooting, did not respond
to our request for comment.
00:26:26
But Connor's defense attorneys
would build their entire case around Dr. Bremner's opinion,
00:26:32
even though they were unaware
of any other homicide case in which
an Accutane defense worked.
00:26:39
-You see this kid.
-[ Crying ] -You see how upset he is. You see how remorseful he is.
00:26:45
It's not just
some young man deciding, "I'm just going to go on
this rampage." That's not what we have here.
00:26:52
-But prosecutors
wouldn't be so convinced. -It's not Accutane.
He was evil. ♪♪ -In August 2025,
00:27:12
just weeks before
Connor Hilton's murder trial was scheduled to begin,
a hearing was held
00:27:17
to determine whether defense
expert Dr. Doug Bremner would be allowed to testify.
00:27:23
-He's the most qualified expert
I've ever had on a case. -Defense attorney Rick Detoto
had to convince a judge
00:27:29
that the doctor's testimony was
reliable and relevant. -May I approach the witness,
Your Honor?
00:27:35
What we're arguing is
that through the expert, Connor was in psychosis
from the Accutane,
00:27:41
and he could not
control himself. Murder has got to be done
intentionally and knowingly.
00:27:45
He could not control
his behavior. And that takes out
the element of intentionally
00:27:51
and knowingly in murder. -At the hearing,
Dr. Bremner testified that it was his opinion
that Hilton was suffering from
00:27:58
a medication psychotic disorder
on the night of the incident. -Why did I do this?!
00:28:05
-He pointed to a study
he conducted which found that isotretinoin, the generic version of Accutane,
impacts a part of the brain
00:28:13
that regulates emotion. See the reddish area
on the left? It's not on the right.
00:28:28
Dr. Bremner says
that illustrates the brain on Accutane has less activity. -It is a bunch of horse [bleep]
00:28:45
-Ben Bliek and his mother
were in the courtroom. -It was very convincing listening to that gentleman
speak.
00:28:51
And then once questions were
asked on the prosecution side... ...it just fell apart.
00:29:03
-What was your reaction
when you heard that their defense
was going to be that this acne medication
caused psychosis?
00:29:09
-Well,
I thought it was ridiculous. -Kayla Allen is
the lead prosecutor on the case.
00:29:14
-I don't think a jury
was going to buy the "Accutane made me do it"
defense. -At the hearing,
prosecutors argued
00:29:21
Dr. Bremner's testimony
should be excluded. And they introduced a more
recent study that found that,
00:29:27
"isotretinoin users
do not have an increased risk of suicide or
psychiatric conditions."
00:29:35
For Allen, the case is simple. -I think that he just wanted to see what it felt like
to kill someone.
00:29:43
-And that had nothing
to do with the acne medication. -I don't believe it did.
No.
00:29:47
-She argues Connor Hilton was
in his right mind at the time of the shooting, and points to that statement
he made on scene as proof.
00:29:55
-He tried to make a statement... ...that one of the boys
had come at him. He's working
a self-defense argument
00:30:12
right from the beginning. Someone who's insane at the time
they've committed a crime
00:30:17
can't automatically start
forming a defense for himself. But by the time
he got to the police station,
00:30:22
it was like, "Look,
I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm not going to lie to you
anymore.
00:30:25
I'm going to
tell you the truth." -And Allen says Connor's
police interview is also key.
00:30:30
-He told police officers
that he had been planning it. -He had acknowledged that
he knew right from wrong, too.
00:30:40
-He knew by loading that gun
and putting it up to someone and pulling that trigger
that he was going to kill them.
00:30:45
That's what he wanted to do. -These were his friends.
-Yes. -Why would he shoot them?
00:30:52
-I don't know. -Because there's
no clear motive in this case, doesn't that support
the defense's argument
00:31:01
that Connor went into
some sort of a psychosis? -I don't think it does. There's just people that are
evil and do evil things.
00:31:10
-Allen argues Connor Hilton is
one of those people. Had you ever seen Connor
pull out this gun before?
00:31:16
-Yeah. -His friends told detectives
about things he'd said in the months
leading up to the shooting.
00:31:21
-He would say, "One day,
I want to be important. I want to leave a legacy." And he would make comments
about killing people.
00:31:30
-And detectives also pulled
Connor's online activity. On YouTube, he downloaded
numerous videos about murder.
00:31:38
His social media posts
referenced it as well. Connor's friends reported
this post was made
00:31:44
just hours before the shooting. It contains the lyrics
"Murder one better run, killing plenty is so fun."
00:31:53
-It's chemically induced. -Connor's defense attorneys
argue Connor became obsessed
00:31:57
with murder
after he went on Accutane. -So all of that can be blamed
on the acne medication?
00:32:03
-Absolutely. -And they say the police
investigation supports their case because several
of Connor's friends
00:32:09
told police they noticed
a change in him during sophomore year, which was
after he went on the drug.
00:32:16
And when you say they noticed
a change, what are they saying? -Well, he was
starting to isolate.
00:32:21
He was getting more involved
into true crime. He wanted to be
a homicide detective.
00:32:26
-But Allen insists
Connor's behavior had nothing to do with Accutane. -That's just what the defense
wants the community to believe,
00:32:35
because it gives them an excuse. He was having problems already before Accutane
was even introduced in his life
00:32:42
about not wanting to go
to school. -In fact, Connor was prescribed
the antidepressant Prozac
00:32:48
months before he started
on Accutane, but Connor says
he was only struggling with normal teenage anxiety
then.
00:32:55
-I was a freshman,
I was nervous. Do I fit in? Do I not? -And during that freshman
year, did you have suicidal,
00:33:02
homicidal thoughts?
-No, ma'am. -But after that hearing
to determine whether Dr. Bremner
would be allowed to testify,
00:33:10
the judge dealt
the defense a blow and ruled Dr. Bremner would
only be allowed to testify
00:33:15
during the punishment phase
of the trial, if necessary. -So in Texas, we have
two phases, guilt and innocence,
00:33:22
and then if there's a guilty
verdict, the punishment phase. -So what will you do during
the first phase of the trial,
00:33:27
the guilt/innocence phase, if you can't present
your expert? -There's not much you can do.
00:33:31
You just have to sit there
and take it and wait until you get to punishment. And then we put on an aggressive
case regarding the Accutane.
00:33:38
-There was still
a lot on the line because in Texas criminal court, Connor Hilton was considered
an adult
00:33:46
and a jury could sentence him
to as little as five years in prison all the way
up to 99 years or life.
00:33:53
-How high are the stakes here? -I don't think you get
much higher. -It's a kid's life.
00:33:59
♪♪ -Two weeks before Connor Hilton
was set to stand trial, a big development. Prosecutors offered him a deal.
00:34:18
50 years in prison
if he pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon.
00:34:25
He would also have to waive
his right to appeal. -We know Connor would
have never done this
00:34:30
if it wasn't for the Accutane. -So you didn't want
to take the plea deal? -I didn't.
00:34:35
-You didn't want to take
the plea deal? -No.
-But Connor? -Well, he did. -What did Connor tell you?
00:34:42
-"I don't want the families
to have to go through that." -They say their son
didn't want Ethan Riley's family
00:34:47
and Ben Bliek and his family to have to suffer
through a trial. And he also didn't want to risk
receiving a life sentence.
00:34:56
-He was trying
to get us on board with it, and I said, "Bud," I said,
"it's just a long time."
00:35:00
♪♪ -But ultimately
the decision was Connor's and he chose to accept the deal. Connor's defense attorneys say
they didn't counsel him one way
00:35:17
or the other, but they believe
he made the right call. -I think the consensus
between the three of us
00:35:22
was there was
a very strong possibility that he would get life. That body cam video
walking in the house,
00:35:28
it's a very difficult
body cam video to watch. -But while Connor Hilton
and his defense team
00:35:33
had worried about the
possibility of a life sentence, prosecutor Kayla Allen
had worried about the opposite.
00:35:39
-My main concern was
he was a young kid, and I think that at times
it hurts juries' hearts
00:35:50
to sentence a young kid to life. We did not plea the case
because we were worried
00:35:57
about the Accutane. It was more his age. -She says she offered
the deal only after confirming
00:36:03
the victims' families
were on board. -All rise. -On September 2, 2025,
a plea hearing was held.
00:36:12
-It's my understanding
you're here this morning to enter a plea on both
of these charges.
00:36:15
Is that correct?
-[ Crying ] Yes, Your Honor. -How do you plead
to each of these charges?
00:36:21
-Guilty. -He was crying because
he was going to prison. Not because he felt bad
for what he did.
00:36:30
-Do you think that Connor's
acne medication played any role? -No. We know a lot of people
who've taken that medication.
00:36:37
-And they don't have
homicidal tendencies? Why do you think
Connor pulled the trigger?
00:36:43
-Because he wanted
to murder somebody. -After Connor Hilton
formally accepted the plea,
00:36:51
Ben got the chance to make
a victim impact statement. He made it clear to Connor
how he felt.
00:36:57
-First of all, stop sniveling. Stop crying. You did this to yourself. Secondly, the grief
you have caused the Rileys
00:37:13
and my own family, I will never forgive you. -Shannon addressed the court
next. She turned her attention
to Connor's mother.
00:37:24
-We are all living
this nightmare because a mother chose
not to tell her son no when he asked her to buy a gun.
00:37:31
This mother put the gun
in the hand of a child who should not have had it. Shame on you.
00:37:40
-Remember,
Connor had told police his mother bought him the gun. And in the hours
after the crime,
00:37:50
Johnece also told that
to police. -But when we interviewed
both Connor and Johnece Hilton,
00:38:00
they denied that
the gun was purchased for him. -I purchased that for myself. -Why did you tell the police
that you did buy it for him?
00:38:08
-I have no idea.
I don't even remember that. They showed me the interview. I don't have --
I have no memory of that.
00:38:15
-Do you think
you were covering for him? Why would you say that?
-I have no idea.
00:38:20
-Johnece Hilton has
not been charged with any crime in connection with the case.
00:38:24
And even though she bought the
gun less than two months before the crime, she insists she had
no idea her son was homicidal.
00:38:33
-There were these
social media posts that he made about murder cases. He watched a lot
of murder videos.
00:38:40
Weren't these warning signs? -No, I didn't think so. -The Hiltons continue
to blame the acne medication.
00:38:48
-You bought the gun
in November. You didn't see any effects
of the acne medication
00:38:52
psychologically
that would lead you to think "I shouldn't have
a gun in the house"?
00:38:57
-I didn't. -I didn't, no. -Still, Johnece says
she lives with an enormous amount of regret.
00:39:05
-I'm so sorry
that this happened, and I do feel responsible. I wish I could go back
and change everything
00:39:12
and I would not have
purchased the firearm. I wouldn't have made him
take the acne medicine.
00:39:18
♪♪ -The last person
to address the court during Connor Hilton's plea
hearing was Matthew Riley,
00:39:28
Ethan Riley's father. -I sit here with so much love -- love in my heart for my son
Ethan.
00:39:38
-Ethan's mother, Tara Riley,
stood behind him. They declined our request
for an interview.
00:39:44
-He's a beautiful soul, full of love and light. You could see that light
in his eyes
00:39:54
and hear it in his laughter. -After that, Connor Hilton
was taken into custody. We spoke to him
00:40:03
inside the Galveston County Jail
the next day. -Just the feeling
of loneliness yesterday was unbearable.
00:40:13
I mean, don't get me wrong,
I did it to myself. I'm the reason why I'm here.
But it just -- It sucks.
00:40:22
-For Ben Bliek, everyday life
remains a challenge. He plays pickleball
and basketball
00:40:29
to help restore his mobility. But he says one person
has helped him the most. -My mom,
she's always there for me.
00:40:40
-Can you explain
how difficult this has been? -It is very difficult, but pouting about it is not
going to get Ethan back.
00:40:57
So... -Just got to keep going. -Yeah. -Go easy on me, my friend. Whoops.
-Oops. -See, my backhand is bad, too.
00:41:09
-Yours is not as bad
as my mom. ♪♪ -Oh, is that what we do?
-Yeah. -Good game.
-Good job, guys.
00:41:22
♪♪