Katie Nichols, a Tennessee woman accused of stabbing her mother and leaving her for dead, isn't to blame for her actions –- a satanic cult is, Nichols told a television crew Tuesday afternoon.
"The satanic cult in this city has been casting satanic spells on me for three, four days. I'm exhausted," Nichols told Knoxville's WVLT. "I came home and found out my mom was the ringleader and was trying to kill my daughter."
According to a spokeswoman for the Knox County Sheriff's Office, Nichols, 31, is accused of stabbing her 61-year-old mother, Laurie Nichols, inside a Knoxville apartment early Tuesday morning. Katie Nichols allegedly stabbed her mother four times before fleeing in a vehicle.
Police said a neighbor called them after hearing Laurie Nichols' screams. When authorities arrived on the scene, Laurie Nichols was seated outside the residence, where officers observed stab wounds to her abdomen, chest and neck.
"The victim advised that she had recently kicked her daughter ... out of her residence and that the suspect showed up with her 8-year-old daughter and they began arguing," Officer Matthew Price wrote in a criminal complaint provided to The Huffington Post. "The victim advised that during the argument, the suspect called her Satan. The victim advised she does not remember what happened after that and did not know how she came to be in this condition."
Later that same day, a WVLT camera crew interviewed a neighbor of the stabbing victim. The neighbor, an unidentified woman, said she hoped Katie Nichols would come back "so we can get the authorities to get her."
Minutes later, Katie Nichols walked up to the camera crew and freely relayed information about the alleged cult, of which she claimed her mother was a high-ranking member.
"I had to kill her ... she was so powerful, I had no idea -- I had no idea that my mother was that powerful," Katie Nichols told WVLT.
She added, "She should have died ... She was the antichrist -- she did not die."
Katie Nichols went on to detail how spells had been put on her and she spoke of nuclear explosions that had been scheduled to occur, but have now been prevented, "because all of the satanic cult has been rounded up and killed."
The camera crew ultimately notified police of Katie Nichols’ whereabouts and she was taken into custody without incident.
The neighbor who initially called police told HuffPost he knows Katie Nichols and described her as "kind of weird."
Martha Dooley, a spokeswoman for the Knox County Sheriff's Office, said Katie Nichols is being held in the Knox County Jail on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. It was unclear Friday if she has an attorney.
"I'm shocked that this is making national news," Dooley told HuffPost of the national attention the case is receiving today.