STAMFORD, Conn. — A Greenwich man plead not guilty Tuesday to murder charges in the stabbing death of his mother.
Stephen Ferenz, 43, entered his plea in state Superior Court after Judge John Kavanewsky Jr. ruled that prosecuters had enough evidence to charge Ferenz with the murder, the Greenwich Time reported.
Ferenz is accused of stabbing his mother, Carol Ferenz, 63, in the chest and arm with a household knife Dec. 31 in her Greenwich home. She died a day later.
Ferenz has a history of severe mental illness.
Carol Ferenz, a Jehovah’s Witness, declined a potentially lifesaving blood transfusion on religious grounds. As a result, prosecutors were initially unsure whether to charge Stephen Ferenz with murder.
At Tuesday’s hearing Ferenz’s older brother, John Ferenz, testified that he saw his brother stab their mother several times.
Ferenz was at first charged with two counts of first-degree assault on a person over 60. The charges were upgraded to murder in February.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 6.