A 24-year-old man told police in Clearwater that he lured his mother into an apartment and beat her with a hammer before fatally stabbing her, officials said.
Logan Lopez told investigators on Saturday that he had planned the killing for a year, Clearwater police said on Twitter.
Officers responded to a 911 call from a neighbor around 5 p.m. on Saturday. She told dispatchers that she could hear a woman screaming in a nearby apartment at The Palms at Countryside.
Police found Mary Beth Lopez, 53, dead inside the apartment.
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Logan Lopez told responding officers and later homicide detectives that he had lured his mother to his place for the purpose of “putting an end to her,” a news release said.
Logan Lopez was booked into the Pinellas County Jail early Sunday. He's facing a first-degree murder charge.
Police said that while Lopez did not have any criminal history, but he had previously been held involuntarily for mental health treatment under Florida's Baker Act.
