MONROE — A Monroe high school junior charged in Green County Circuit Court with stabbing his father during a dispute in May pleaded no contest Sept. 14 to felony aggravated battery.

Zachery Thomas Hennessy, 17, was sentenced to three years on probation with conditions that he work toward getting his high school diploma or the equivalent and undergo any treatment or counseling his probation agent deems appropriate.

He had faced up to six years in prison for the Class H felony. As part of a plea agreement, a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct was dismissed.

Judge Thomas Vale ruled that Hennessy is unable to pay restitution and did not order it.

At an initial hearing in the case, Hennessy’s defense attorney identified him as a junior at Monroe High School and said he has no other relatives in the Monroe area.

Court records indicate Hennessy stabbed his father in the torso while they were arguing May 24, then turned himself over to police hours later, explaining “he did not want to stab his dad but felt he had no other options.”

According to the criminal complaint:

Police were notified after a man came into the Monroe Clinic ER with a stab wound that had caused pneumothorax, or lung collapse. The wound was about an inch and a half deep. The man told police his son intentionally stabbed him that morning while they were “arguing over little matters.”

The father didn’t realize at first how severe the injury was until he started having difficulty breathing and noticed how much he was bleeding. He said he ran out of the apartment he shares with his son in the 2700 block of 8 1/2 Street and “drove as fast as he could to the ER” roughly seven blocks away.

He told police his son suffers mental health disorders, has assaulted law enforcement in the past and “can easily become agitated.”

Hennessy was waiting outside the apartment when police arrived, and when they asked if he knew why there were there, he “stated yes and started to get tears in his eyes,” an officer wrote in a report filed with the criminal complaint.

“I stabbed my dad,” Hennessy told police, explaining that their argument that morning had escalated and he got the folding knife from another room because he was fearful. He said his father had hit and kicked him in the past.

“(He) said he did not want to stab his dad but felt he had no other options,” the officer wrote. “He said his dad was standing directly in front of him and yelling loudly. He said his dad told him to pack his bags and move out.”

“(Hennessy) said when his dad saw the knife, he told his dad to back away and that he did not want to hurt him. (He) said he repeated multiple times he did not want to hurt his dad,” the officer wrote. “He said his dad has been under a lot of stress lately with his job and some health issues.”

The stabbing happened when his father made a threatening statement and moved quickly toward him, Hennessy told the officer. After it happened, Hennessy “froze and was in disbelief.”

After his father left for the ER, Hennessy told police “he didn’t know what to do so he left and walked around for a couple of hours.” He said he tried to call his dad but he did not answer.

“(Hennessy) said he had nowhere to go so he returned home and decided to call 911 and report what he had done,” the officer wrote.