A 19-year-old Kentucky man admitted in court Tuesday that he brutally beat his grandmother to death while filming the unprovoked attack on his cellphone. Wyatt Testerman appeared in Kenton County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty but mentally ill to one count of murder for the October 2024 slaying of 74-year-old Cheri Oliver.
The plea allows Testerman to receive mental health treatment while serving his prison sentence. There was no prior agreement with prosecutors, who confirmed they still intend to seek the maximum penalty of life in prison.
The incident unfolded at a home on Ridgewood Drive in Erlanger. According to investigators, Testerman set up his phone to record before shoving Oliver to the floor.
Court filings detail a relentless assault where Oliver was struck over 40 times and stomped roughly a dozen times. Authorities noted that at one point during the beating, Testerman paused to check the victim’s pulse.
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“How the f— is she still breathing?” he allegedly asked, before picking up a metal drinking tumbler to continue the attack.
In court, Testerman attributed his actions to heavy drug use. “I had been abusing acid for quite some time,” he told the judge. “Without reason on that date, I attacked my grandmother, striking her numerous times and killing her.” He added that at the time of the murder, he “didn’t spend too much time thinking in reality.”
The attack was witnessed by Testerman’s mother, who reportedly tried to stop her son by hitting him with a cane. Other witnesses told police that Testerman had warned Oliver she would “suffer the consequences” shortly before the violence began.
Testerman originally planned to pursue an insanity defense. However, his attorney stated that a defense expert diagnosed him with antisocial personality disorder.
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The expert concluded that while Testerman was likely in a psychotic state during the murder, it was triggered by voluntary drug use, which does not meet the legal threshold for an insanity plea in Kentucky.
Prosecutors maintained that Testerman’s history of psychosis is consistently linked to his substance abuse. Though he claimed to be experiencing hallucinations during Tuesday’s hearing, he told the court he fully understood the legal proceedings.
The 19-year-old faces a sentence of 20 to 50 years or life in prison. Judge Patricia Summe is scheduled to issue his sentence on July 7.
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