photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Tristen L. Hollins

A man told a Douglas County judge on Wednesday that he would like to spend his upcoming prison sentence at Larned State Hospital after entering a plea deal that reduced his attempted murder charge in connection with an attack near a North Lawrence homeless camp.

Tristen Lamont Hollins, 43, was charged in Douglas County District Court with one felony count of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing of Bryan “Queen” Griffin on Aug. 11, 2023, near the pedestrian tunnels just north of the now-closed city-supported site “Camp New Beginnings,” as the Journal-World reported.

On Wednesday, Hollins pleaded no contest to the lesser charge of aggravated battery. Assistant District Attorney Cody Smith said that Hollins had the highest criminal history score possible and that in addition to any prison time he serves he will be required to register as a violent offender.

Judge Stacey Donovan accepted Hollins’ plea and said that given his criminal history, he faced a minimum of 154 months, 12.8 years, and a maximum of 172 months, 14.3 years.

Smith said that if the case had gone to trial, the state would have put on evidence that Hollins was in contact with law enforcement the night of the incident and had been trespassed from the homeless camp.

Later that night police were called back to the area about a stabbing and found Griffin bleeding from the neck in great pain, Smith said. Griffin described a man matching Hollins’ description who was following him, and when Griffin confronted Hollins, Hollins stabbed him near his carotid artery in the neck.

photo by: Contributed

Bryan “Queen” Griffin

Police located a shirtless Hollins near the Kansas River Bridge. Police found the knife used in the attack wrapped in the shirt Hollins was wearing earlier that night when he encountered officers, hidden between Hollins and the scene of the stabbing, Smith said.

After entering his plea, Hollins asked Donovan what the chances were that Larned State Hospital would evaluate him to help determine his sentence.

As the Journal-World previously reported, Hollins has been in and out of mental health treatment at the state hospital since his arrest. At one point during his case, he argued that he was a “divine judge” who could not be charged with a crime on Earth.

On Wednesday, Donovan said that Hollins was a very different person than she had met before and that he seemed engaged and competent. She said she would order Larned to evaluate him to determine whether he might spend his prison sentence with the Kansas Department of Corrections or at Larned.

“I would like to go to that,” Hollins said.

Hollins asked what the likelihood was that he would be allowed to serve his time at the hospital. Donovan said she could not say one way or the other but that she had seen the hospital recommend either one.

Donovan then scheduled Hollins for a status conference on July 22, when Hollins’ attorney, Michael Clarke, can update the court on the status of Hollins’ evaluation from Larned. Hollins has been in custody since his arrest and is being held on a $1 million bond.