A Florida man allegedly told police he stabbed and shot his own mother under the direction of a higher power.
Derek Vaughn is alleged to have killed his mom, Jerry Lea Vaughn, on the evening of Monday, April 6. Derek, his wife, and his two sons had moved in with Jerry Lea, her Wildwood neighbors told local news outlets.
Jerry Lea, 77, called 911 that night around 8:30 p.m. and told dispatchers she was being attacked. “Help me, help me,” she cried out, “my son just stabbed me, he is coming to kill me.”
When stabbing her failed to kill her, Derek, 51, went for his gun, police said.
Officers who’d raced to the scene arrived to find Derek, his wife and the two kids standing outside of the home.
He was immediately handcuffed, and allegedly that while he realized “I killed my mom,” one of the cuffs around his wrists was “uncomfortable.”
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The arrest report claims Vaughn acknowledged killing his mother more than once while in the presence of police.
“He had stabbed her; she did not die, so God told him to get his father’s gun and shoot her in the head, so he did,” the arrest report said.
Neighbors expressed disbelief to WESH 2. “Jesus Christ, my savior, did not tell that young man to take his mother’s life,” said Mary Arnold, who also counted herself among Jerry Lea’s friends. “I don’t know who he was listening to, but it was not Jesus Christ. He did not tell that man to take his mother.”
According to the arrest report, Vaughn was cleared following a mental health evaluation and was determined to know the difference between right and wrong.
Vaughn has never been convicted of a crime, police added. A motive, if known, has not been shared.
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He is being held without bond, and information about any pleas he may have entered or attorneys he may have hired was unavailable at press time.
Arnold told WESH 2 Jerry Lea had been dealing with potentially life-threatening medical issues recently.
“Her fear wasn’t really of dying; her fear was not being there for her family. That was her,” Arnold said. “[That her family turned on her], that’s very hard to process.”
Arnold also encouraged people to keep Jerry Lea’s grandchildren in their prayers. “Pray for those boys, because this is the rest of their life, and they’re young,” she said, adding Jerry Lea helped raise the boys.