CHILLING: Adopted Teen Batters Mother To Death With Dumbbell
A 16-year-old from Washington State has been arrested for battering his mother to death with a dumbbell – one day after he gave an emotional interview questioning who could have done such a thing. Brad George was arrested on Saturday after 37-year-old Georgina Latshaw was found dead in her bedroom on Friday afternoon by police after the Everett teen called 911. He told the responding officers that he had found their apartment front door open when he returned from school and was too scared to go inside. The officers entered the home to find the bloody scene, but quickly found holes in the teen’s story and arrested him on Saturday.
He now faces charges of first degree murder in an adult court after admitting to police he killed his adoptive mother after suffering a psychotic episode.
‘The door was open and her car was home and that never happens,’ said George to KIRO TV in what now appears to be a chilling interview given alongside his two sisters on Friday afternoon. ‘It is 15 degrees outside and my neighbors says the door has been like that for a while and I thought that was very suspicious. So I called the house phone and no one was answering and I called 911. The police arrived and went upstairs and they came down and told me that my mom had passed away. She has supported me my whole life. She always knew what was best for us. I don’t know who could have done this. This doesn’t feel real, this all feels fake.’
George told authorities he broke into 37-year-old Georgina Latshaw’s room on Thursday night, which had a security lock and then waited till she was snoring. During questioning he reportedly said that he stopped taking his medications on February 1 and had not slept in three days. He said he had become concerned on Thursday night that Latshaw was poisoning him with bleach and in an effort to protect himself decided to kill her with the dumbbell. The Everett teen then beat her around the head at least three times before cleaning off the blood from the weight and going to school – after which he phoned police after attempting to make it appear a fatal burglary had occurred.
George, who had been in Latshaw’s care for ten-years then appeared in front of television cameras to express his shock and grief that anyone could have killed the woman he called ‘mom’ in such a gruesome fashion. George, 16, was ordered to remain in jail in lieu of $500,000 cash-only bail during a brief hearing on Monday in the juvenile division of Snohomish County Superior Court.
According to police, the teen was arrested on Saturday and taken for an evaluation at a psychiatric hospital where he suddenly became catatonic. He then pulled a wooden arm off a chair and walked toward a nurse with his arm raised ready to strike her.He was disarmed by two security guards after the nurse screamed for help. The teen is a currently a student at Overlake Speciality School for troubled children with special needs and has a history of violent outbursts and mental illness. Indeed, George was admitted to Providence Medical Center’s Pacific Campus in 2010 after having hallucinations of his mother as a short clown with a blood filled mouth and also having made a sculpture of her with a severed head.
Detectives who have interviewed Latshaw’s family discovered that George had threatened her at least once before – including one incident that involved a knife. That is why police believe his mother had a security lock on her door.
According to law enforcement, George had been having trouble with the medication he was taking to control his mood disorders and the police report said that the teenager had been diagnosed with a form of post-traumatic stress. Police have told the Herald of Everett that because of seriousness of his alleged crime, he will be tried in the adult legal system. Law enforcement also believe the killing was premeditated because of the number of steps that George went through to try to cover up his involvement. Upon returning home from school on Friday afternoon, George called 911 to the home he shared with Latshaw and said he had become alerted to the front door lying ajar and his mother’s car still being outside. Responding officers found her dead in her bed with blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the police report tiled. Investigators then discovered a purple plastic dumbbell and male clothing stained with blood in the garbage and no sign of forced entry or theft. The apartment was searched with a judge’s permission and an apparent twin to the purple dumbbell was found in the teenager’s bedroom.
When they confronted him about the killing, George denied any involvement but was reportedly very nervous and began to shake when questioned about the dumbbell. According to police he admitted the killing on Sunday following his violent outburst towards the nurse on Saturday. He told officers that when he tried to open her door he realized his mother had locked it after recently installing the security bar. He said that he used a coat hanger to disable the bar and then walked in and waited till he heard her snoring and then began striking her.