A 69-year-old woman in Texas was allegedly murdered by her adult son, who police believe “possibly” used a hammer to bludgeon his “loving, caring mom” to death on Wednesday night, according to police and family members.
The son’s stepbrother and responding officers discovered him pacing in and out of the house they shared, gripping the tool in his hand, while his mother died in the garage, according to cops and family.
“Dad, you need to get home quickly. Jarell just did something to momma Eva,” the stepbrother told his father, Curtis Peavy, during a frantic phone call that Peavy described to local CBS affiliate KHOU on Thursday, following the alleged murder of his wife, Eva Peavy, of Harris County, by her son Jarell Joseph on Wednesday night.
“I asked ‘What do you mean?'” He stated, “I arrived here and just saw a body laying in the garage.” Peavy recalls. “I was numb at first and didn’t feel anything. That is her son, but I raised him. I mean, I was the only father in his life.”
Joseph, who is charged with first-degree murder, is accused of attacking his mother while his stepbrother was home. They all live together on Ellesmere Drive in Woodforest, a Houston neighborhood.
“Joseph allegedly killed his mother, possibly using a hammer,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release Thursday. According to KHOU, the 35-year-old was arrested without incident after handing over the hammer he was holding.
“When deputies arrived, he put it down, cooperated, and was detained without incident,” HCSO Sgt. Michael Ritchie told local ABC affiliate KTRK. “His stepbrother was also home. He observed his stepbrother with a hammer. His brother was not really speaking to him and was acting indifferent, so the person who came home and observed all of this simply kept his distance.”
Eva Peavy and Joseph allegedly had a strained relationship, and Joseph suffered from mental illness, according to his stepfather. Court records obtained by KHOU show that he was previously arrested for domestic violence against his mother.
“He attacked her the first time when he tried choking her,” Peavy told me. “My mom was there and came to her rescue.”
According to his stepdad, Joseph was diagnosed “as schizophrenic and bipolar,” which was exacerbated by alleged drug use.
“He had gotten on that synthetic weed,” Peavy said, recalling how he and Eva convinced Joseph to go to rehab and take medication, which he allegedly stopped doing.
“(She was a) loving, caring mom,” Peavy said. “I know it’s just the peace of God that’s keeping me together right now.”
