An Arizona teenager allegedly killed his mother in a field and then staged her kidnapping, according to police in the Grand Canyon State.
The events that unfolded led law enforcement to identify the 18-year-old defendant as the prime suspect in the homicide case.
On Wednesday morning, a jogger discovered the body of 38-year-old Mary Collier among the plowed dirt rows of a crop field in San Tan Valley, a large community in Pinal County.
That day, two 911 calls were made regarding the woman’s condition.
The first call came in around 9 a.m. from the jogger, as detailed in a press release from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.
James Richey, who was out for a run, has since shared his experience with various local media outlets in the broader Phoenix area.
The body was located in a large plot of farmland, not far from railroad tracks, west of Gantzel Road and south of Skyline Drive.
“I was hoping it was like a Halloween scarecrow or something, just thrown out here or a prop,” Richey told CBS affiliate KPHO in Phoenix. “As I got closer, it started looking more and more like a real person.”
He quickly realized the body was indeed real, along with what appeared to be the murder weapon.
“It was a butcher’s knife,” Richey said, referencing a weapon famously associated with a character from the “Halloween” horror film series: “Like, you know, a Michael Myers knife.”
The blood was undeniably real. Those realizations confirmed his worst fears.
“Instantly, when I saw the blood on the blade, I knew this was a dead body. This is a crime scene,” Richey continued in his remarks to the TV station. “The handle was broken in two pieces, and the blade was just sitting there, covered in blood.”
As the jogger waited for police to arrive—less than 10 minutes after he made the 911 call—another emergency call came in.
This time, the caller reported a kidnapping occurring on West Vineyard Plains Drive, according to the sheriff’s office.
The residence in question is located less than a mile from where Collier’s body was discovered, well within walking distance, in the Skyline Ranch neighborhood adjacent to the farm where she is believed to have been killed.
Deputies quickly determined that both 911 calls were related to the same victim.
“It was established that the victim’s 18-year-old son placed the second 911 call,” the sheriff’s office noted in the press release. “He has been identified as the homicide suspect and was found with self-inflicted wounds when deputies arrived. He will be booked into the Pinal County Jail for First Degree Murder upon his release from the hospital.”
As of this writing, the alleged killer’s name has not been released.
No motive has been provided by law enforcement regarding the conflict between mother and son. However, deputies noted that a domestic violence call had been made from the Collier residence the night before, although it was related to an argument between them.
“I just don’t understand how someone could be so angry that their first thought is to kill someone, especially their mother,” Richey remarked to NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix.
A neighbor of the Collier family told Fox affiliate KSAZ that he saw the suspect walking home later that morning.
“I was out front with my dog when I saw the gentleman walking from the direction of the field toward the house, and about an hour later, my wife told me there were cops everywhere,” the neighbor said. “I didn’t see anything unusual. He wasn’t acting strange; he was just walking back home.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched by the victim’s niece to raise funds for the family. Collier leaves behind four children and a husband who cannot work due to illness, according to the online fundraiser.
“Mary, I hope all our love reaches you in heaven because I know that’s exactly where you are,” the GoFundMe reads. “We’ll always support your family, and I want you to know that we’ll take care of them, and that they miss you. I can feel your presence, even now as I write this, and your soul has never felt warmer.”
The investigation is ongoing. As of this writing, the alleged killer remains in the hospital, according to law enforcement.
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