Utah man allegedly shoots mom dead after she attempts 'suicide', livestreams footage of scene on Facebook drenched in blood
NORTH SALT LAKE, UTAH: A Utah man who allegedly shot his mother and streamed the gruesome aftermath on Facebook Live has now been arrested.
Police responded to a home in North Salt Lake, Utah, at around 7.10 pm on Saturday, October 26, and took Jeffrey Antonio Langford into custody after they received reports about a woman, 45-year-old Graciela Holker, who had apparently committed suicide,
Authorities also received a social media message from someone inside the apartment stating a woman had killed herself and that the 911 caller was planning to shoot himself as well, according to an ABC 4 report.
Langford was seen in three consecutive Facebook Live videos smeared in blood while stating his mother had shot herself "in the face" but was not dead, adding that he had to "finish the job" himself to put her out of her suffering.
According to Deseret News, one of the videos showed the woman lying dead as he held her head up to the camera. Drenched in tears and blood, the son stated he was "not going to jail".
The 24-year-old told police his mother first slit her own throat before shooting herself thrice in front of him. While Langford initially told authorities he did not touch the gun, he later admitted he shot her because he "did not want her to be in pain or be a vegetable," according to the affidavit.
"The male in the video states that he didn't do this and she shot herself right in front of me," the police affidavit read. "The male keeps filming himself and says she's not dead, I have to finish it."
Langford emerged from the apartment as soon as officers arrived at the scene, and was exhibiting "signs of being intoxicated". "Jeffrey had a reddish-brown substance on his face and clothing consistent in appearance to blood," an officer wrote in an affidavit.
According to Langford, his mother had been drinking and shot herself in the head. However, investigators analyzed the three videos posted online and noted his mother "would be unable to manipulate a firearm and fire another shot to her head."
Police said Holker was found dead in the apartment between her couch and coffee table and had sustained at least one gunshot wound.
According to local outlets, Langford reportedly told officers when they found casings in his room that he "removed the gun from Holker's hand, unloaded the spent casings, and reloaded the revolver."
He said he feared Holker would shoot him as well, considering they had been drinking and had also consumed the sedative Klonopin.
When investigators asked Langford what happened at the end of his videos, "he paused for a time but later admitted that he did shoot her after the video."
Furthermore, he told officers the videos were a "call for help" as he was going to kill himself, and that this was why they found the revolver hammer was in the cocked position.
"The handgun was in the victim's right hand; however it was not consistent with a suicide," an officer wrote in the police report. "I asked him to tell me more. Jeffrey stated his mom did shoot herself in front of him...but she was still alive and in pain."
"Jeffrey stated he did not want her to be in pain or be a vegetable, so he shot her once in the back of the head with the revolver while she was still alive," he shared.
Langford was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor count of carrying a dangerous weapon under the influence of alcohol or drugs.