16-year-old texted deputies about stabbing his grandmother, Florida officials say
.jpg "A 16-year-old boy stabbed his grandmother to death, Florida police say.")
A 16-year-old boy has been charged in the murder of his grandmother, Florida officials say.
Muriel Ladonna Emerson, 57, was found dead with multiple stab wounds in her home just before midnight on Wednesday, Sept. 7, according to a Rockledge Police Department arrest affidavit. Her grandson told officials that he stabbed her.
Officials were alerted of the incident when the boy texted 911 saying that he was scared and had killed his grandmother, the affidavit says. Upon receiving the texts, Brevard County deputies located the boy at a gas station where they learned the address where his grandmother’s body was located.
Rockledge Police officers and another deputy arrived at Emerson’s home and identified the body through a broken window.
“Last night, the city experienced a heinous crime. It was calculated. It was brutal,” Chief of Police Joseph LaSata said during a Sept. 8 news conference.
At the gas station, deputies observed that the suspect had wounds on his arms and hands, and they noticed what appeared to be blood on his clothing, the affidavit says. When asked how many times he stabbed his grandmother, the boy told deputies “too many to count.”
The teenager told deputies that he did not go to school on Sept. 7, instead spending the morning in a church parking lot with plans to run away before texting 911 that he wanted to go home. After responding to the scene, officers contacted Emerson, who picked her grandson up and took him home. The suspect lived with Emerson.
Once the two returned home, Emerson returned to her home office, her grandson told officials. Later, the suspect said he began having homicidal thoughts. He then got a large knife from the kitchen and began stabbing his grandmother in her office. Emerson tried to run, but the suspect said he got another knife and continued stabbing her until she fell.
After the stabbing, the suspect gathered a backpack of his clothes, his grandmother’s briefcase and a jar of cash before leaving the house on foot, according to the affidavit.
The suspect is in custody and has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, LaSata said.
Rockledge is about 50 miles southeast of Orlando.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 3:34 PM with the headline "16-year-old texted deputies about stabbing his grandmother, Florida officials say."
