‘Love you yaya’: Son who blasted dad after spending the day trying to stop him from drunk driving
Background: The Uinta County District Court in Evanston, Wyo. (Google Maps). Inset: Ethan Grasse (Uinta County Sheriff's Office).
A judge has declined to dismiss a murder case against a Wyoming man accused of fatally shooting his father, despite the defendant’s claim that he acted in self-defense. The ruling means the case will continue, though the defense will still be allowed to present the self-defense argument to a jury during the trial.
Ethan Grasse, 23, is charged with second-degree murder in the November 2025 shooting death of his father, Michael Grasse, 49. According to reporting by Cowboy State Daily, Grasse and his public defender appeared Tuesday in Uinta County District Court, where they argued that the circumstances surrounding the shooting justified dismissing the charges.
Grasse told the court that tensions in the home had escalated the day before the shooting. He said his father had been drinking heavily and making threats to harm him physically. Concerned about his safety, the younger man said he even purchased a locking doorknob for his bedroom door so his father could not enter without permission.
Court records obtained by Cowboy State Daily state that on Nov. 21, 2025, Michael Grasse had been drinking heavily when he asked his son to drive him to get food. Ethan Grasse drove him to a restaurant and then returned home with him. After arriving back at the house, Ethan parked his vehicle behind his father’s car in the driveway in an effort to prevent him from driving while intoxicated.
Later that day, Michael Grasse went outside and began moving trash cans so he could maneuver his car out from behind his son’s vehicle. Ethan Grasse came outside after hearing the noise and warned that he would contact police if his father attempted to drive. According to the defense, Michael Grasse then attacked his son physically. The confrontation ended when Michael Grasse’s mother stepped in and broke up the fight.
Police said Ethan Grasse then left the house and went to a friend’s home to get away and try to find somewhere else to stay for the night. When he was unable to find another place, he went to Walmart and bought the locking doorknob for his bedroom. He later returned home and found his father passed out on the couch.
According to court documents, Ethan Grasse took his father’s keys and phone and poured out several bottles of whiskey while his father was still unconscious. He then replaced the doorknob on his bedroom door and went to sleep.
Police said that around 10 p.m., Michael Grasse began pounding on his son’s bedroom door and threatened to break it down and “kick [his] a—.” Ethan Grasse reportedly responded that he would return the keys and phone once his father was sober. The older man continued making threats before going back to his own room to work out.
At 10:44 p.m., Ethan Grasse sent a text message to his grandmother from inside his bedroom. In the message, he wrote that his father had woken up and was threatening him through the wall. He also wrote that if his father tried to break into the room, he would defend himself.
Police said Ethan Grasse woke again around 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2025, after hearing someone striking his bedroom door. Without putting on his glasses, he reportedly grabbed a .22-caliber handgun he kept in the room as the door was being forced open and fired at least three shots through the door. After hearing his father moan, he put on his glasses and called 911.
In court filings, Ethan Grasse said he could not see clearly without his glasses and claimed he believed he was defending himself from an unknown intruder. He wrote that he “did not mean to kill any one just defend myself from an unknown intruder.”
Michael Grasse was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:22 a.m.
After hearing the defense’s arguments Tuesday, Uinta County District Court Judge James Kaste ruled that the case would not be dismissed on self-defense grounds. However, the judge said the defense is still free to present that argument during the trial.
Ethan Grasse remains in custody at the Uinta County Jail. His trial is currently scheduled to begin on May 12.
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