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Arizona Man, Frustrated With Grandma's Dementia, Allegedly Slices Her Throat
Brandon Smith told police that he wanted to put his grandmother, who suffered from dementia, out of her misery.
An Arizona man was arrested on Saturday after he sliced his 81-year-old grandmother’s throat, police say.
Helen Smith was found dead in her home early Sunday morning after police received a call saying that someone had beaten and stabbed her to death, Fox10 in Pheonix reported.
Chandler Police say her grandson, Brandon Smith, fled the scene after he called police to say that someone had attacked his grandmother. Police soon located him and took him into custody for his grandmother’s death, according to court documents obtained first by AZFamily, a joint news venture backed by CBS5 and 3TVin Pheonix.
Smith later admitted to police that he became frustrated that he was the only one taking care of the elderly woman who suffered from dementia.
When his grandmother urinated in her pants, Smith took her to the shower to clean her off. The 30-year-old then slapped his grandmother in the face and she fell into the bathtub unconscious, police said.
“The defendant then indicated that he didn't want his grandmother to live like this anymore and he decided to end her life,” according to court records.
Smith told police he went to the kitchen and came back with a knife. He then sliced his grandmothers throat as she was in the tub, according to police.
Smith’s downstairs neighbor told AZFamily that she could hear the crying of the family when they came to the apartment after the incident.
"She was screaming, she was frightened," Marca Whitehair told AZFamily. "She just kept yelling, like, 'Grandma's gone, grandma's gone!'”
Another resident of the complex told AZFamily that the building had never experienced anything this gruesome.
"Nothing like this has ever happened,” Alan Blanchard told AZFamily “I came out and there were about 20 officers, 20 cops cars around the building.”
The court records show that Smith was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack and was thought to be an alcoholic.
Smith was already on probation from a prior charge of aggravated assault and trespassing at the time of the alleged stabbing, according to a police report. He faces a charge of first degree murder.
[Photo: Chandler Police Department]
