Trial of American Teen who Shot Dead Parents, 3 Siblings, Begins

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An Alabama teenager accused of killing five members of his family had previously attempted to poison his stepmother with peanut butter, a new court file reveals.

Before allegedly fatally shooting his parents and three siblings – including his infant brother – execution-style, then-16-year-old Mason Wayne Sisk had tried to poison his stepmother by putting peanut butter in her coffee, knowing she was allergic, according to authorities. 

The harrowing murders allegedly ensued after Sisk, 19, found out his stepmother was not his biological mother. The September 2019 massacre rocked the small town of Elkmont. 

The new filing also alleges that Sisk had been threatening towards his father and forceful with his three young half-siblings, News19 reported. 

Sisk is also accused by prosecutors of stealing jewelry from his stepmother and grandmother. 

He faces one count of capital murder of two or more victims, and three counts of capital murder of a victim under the age of 14. Sisk will appear in court on August 12 for a pre-trial hearing. 

On the day of the alleged crimes, around 11pm on September 2, 2019, Sisk called 911 to report a shooting. 

The then-16-year-old boy initially told responding deputies that he had been in the basement of his family’s home in the 2500 block of Ridge Road in Elkmont when he heard gunfire upstairs.

According to investigators, Sisk later confessed to killing his family and led officers to the murder weapon, a 9mm pistol, which was legally held at the residence. 

The victims of the shooting were identified as his father, John Sisk, 38; his stepmother, Mary Sisk, 35; his two half-brothers, six-month-old Colson and six-year-old Grayson, and his half-sister Aurora, aged five.

Sisk’s cousin Daisy McCarty told WAFF in 2019 that she believed the killings were sparked by a revelation that Mary Sisk was not his birth mother.

“He didn’t know any different of who his mom was. And they just recently told him, and I think that’s really what triggered the little boy, to be honest with you,” she said.

Sisk also had been acting out in the months preceding the murders by burning live animals and breaking into his school, she said.

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