On December 23, 2023, Connor Hilton, 17, shot two friends—18-year-old Ethan Riley and 19-year-old Benjamin Bliek—in the head at his home in Friendswood, Texas. In police interviews, Hilton initially claimed it was self-defense, then an accident, before finally admitting he had planned the shooting. He told detectives he had experienced suicidal and homicidal thoughts for an extended period and that “the idea of murder is just super interesting for me.” After the shooting, Ethan Riley died from his injuries. Benjamin Bliek survived, spending more than three weeks in the hospital before transferring to inpatient rehab.
The Accutane Connection
Hilton’s father began investigating a prescription acne medication his son had been taking: Accutane (isotretinoin). The drug label warns of risks including “depression, psychosis, suicide, and aggressive and/or violent behaviors.” According to court-admitted dermatology records, Hilton started Accutane in late July 2022 when he was 15. About a month later, he reported “feeling symptoms of depression” and stopped taking it. However, Hilton later told a defense expert that he had not been completely honest—the homicidal thoughts began after starting the medication, not just depression. When he stopped taking Accutane, the thoughts subsided. He restarted the medication in January 2023 at a lower dose, and the suicidal and homicidal thoughts returned “slowly, but yes.” Hilton continued taking the drug on and off for the next 11 months until the shooting. On the day of the incident, he took double his prescribed dose, having missed the previous day’s dose.
Expert Analysis and Defense Strategy
Dr. Doug Bremner, a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory University School of Medicine, was retained by Hilton’s defense team to evaluate the case. After interviewing Hilton and reviewing evidence, Bremner concluded: “I think he became psychotic on Accutane, and he had recurrent homicidal ideation that he was not able to control.” He stated that “these thoughts did not occur before he took Accutane” and that the pattern of thoughts appearing when Hilton started the drug, disappearing when he stopped, and returning when he restarted it constituted “proof basically of a causal effect between a drug and a symptom.” However, Hilton’s defense attorneys noted they were unaware of any other homicide case in which an Accutane defense had successfully worked. Prosecutors disputed this explanation, with one prosecutor stating, “It’s not Accutane, he was evil.” In August 2025, a hearing was scheduled to determine whether Bremner would be allowed to testify at Hilton’s trial.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/connor-hilton-friendswood-texas-shooting-acne-medication-48-hours/