Missouri man kills own mother by brutally stomping on her head, tells neighbor he 'had to put her down'
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI: A Missouri man has been charged in connection with the fatal beating of his mother in the last week of August.
Lucas Mauritzen, 38, was arrested after deputies from the Independence Police Department responded to a residence in the 9500 block of East 14th Street in Independence on reports raising a concern about his mother's welfare, according to a press release by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
The caller told the police that the man who lived at the residence, later identified to be Mauritzen, had confessed to someone else that he had killed his mother.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found Mauritzen at the residence and the 38-year-old's mother, Tamera Rainey, dead and lying on the floor just inside the front door. Her body looked severely beaten and was covered in blood.
During initial investigations, a neighbor told the police that Mauritzen had contacted him on the front porch and said, "I had to put her down." The neighbor said that, when he asked him if he was referring to a dog, he responded with, "Mom."
The police subsequently obtained a search warrant, and during a search of the home, observed blood and blood splatter in each room of the residence.
When questioned, Mauritzen told investigators how he hit his mom with his fists and objects from inside the home. He admitted he assaulted her all day, striking her with his hands until they began to hurt, and that he also said he struck her with his knee.
He said that, at one point, she went into the bathroom and took a shower, and that even after that, he continued to assault her, kicking her in the head with the bottom of his foot.
Court records indicate his hands and right knee were swollen. Prosecutors alleged he had struck his mother with a plunger until it broke, and that he also attacked her with a fan and a paper towel dispenser.
Mauritzen said that he did not try to help his mother at any point and that after she died, left with his dog and slept at a friend's home. He said he returned to the residence the next day, then walked to the aforementioned neighbor's house, and told him he "had to put her down.
Mauritzen is facing charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in this connection. Prosecutors have requested a bond of $350,000 cash.