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Jakob A. Murray, 24, of Shillington, was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault, strangulation, robbery, theft, and possessing an instrument of crime in the killing of his mom, Jill Murray, 47, Pennsylvania State Police said Tuesday.
He admitted to strangling his mother at their North Brobst Street home Sunday morning, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Murray also claimed that after choking his mom, he thought she was dead, but when he realized she wasn't, he cut her neck with a kitchen knife, investigators said. An autopsy on the woman's body revealed that she died as a result of a stab and incised wound to the neck, the complaint states.
He then stole his mom's credit card and car keys and fled the house in her 2008 Nissan Sentra to get heroin in Philadelphia, according to the affidavit.
He was found in Philadelphia on Monday and taken into custody.
Shillington police were initially called to the home on a report of a cardiac arrest around 9:45 a.m.. Sunday, police said. The investigation quickly shifted to a homicide.
Jill Murrary's boyfriend told investigators that she received a call from her son just after midnight Sunday, which prompted her to return home, according to the affidavit.
The woman's boyfriend texted her on Sunday morning, but when he didn't hear back, he went to her house to check on her, investigators said.
When he arrived, he discovered her body on the living room floor with a knife in her chest and cut to her neck, court documents state.
When her boyfriend noticed her car was missing, he reported it to police, who tracked it down to Jakob Murry in Philadelphia, authorities said.
Murray was remanded to Berks County Prison, where he is being held without bail.
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