Son charged with murder of Jamaican mom in US

The son of a 50-year-old Jamaican woman whose body was found with stab wounds in her Stamford, Connecticut, apartment last Friday has been charged with her murder.

Denise McLaughlin, who had been missing for days, was discovered after friends became alarmed at her non-response to several phone calls and called the police to do a welfare check at her home.

Her 25-year-old son, Winston Weathers, who lived at the apartment with his mother and who was also missing for days, was taken into custody on Tuesday night and later charged with her murder.

Weathers appeared in court in Stamford on Wednesday morning.

Senior Assistant State Attorney Maureen Ornousky told the court at Weathers’ arraignment that he had checked himself into a New York psychiatric facility, where he was later found by the police.

She further told the court that Weathers gave a full confession once in custody.

According to the arrest warrant, McLaughlin died of stab wounds to the neck and stomach

McLaughlin, a New York apartment building owner, was well-known in her Bronx community and was active in a number of organisations.

Captain Richard Conklin of the Stamford Police Department said the “tragic incident only became more tragic as it appears the victim died by the actions of her son”.

The police report said that Weathers had been living with his mother recently at the Manor Street apartment.

According to the police, they found evidence of crack cocaine in the bedroom used by Weathers.

Four days prior to the incident, the police were called to the home by McLaughlin, who reported a disturbance. She told the police at the time that Weathers was possibly high or intoxicated and causing a scene outside her house.

The report further said that McLaughlin told the police that she had kicked him out of the house because he was trying to throw away a good job.

McLaughlin was active in the Organization of International Development, which conducts medical missions across the Caribbean and Africa.