Escaping the violence of his home country.
Via WISTV:
The mental state of an 18-year-old man who allegedly decapitated his mother at a Zebulon home on Monday will be evaluated by authorities as he awaits a formal indictment by a grand jury.
Oliver Mauricio Funes Machada was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 35-year-old Yesenia Funez Beatriz Machado. Franklin County authorities said Funes Machada walked out of the home at 90 Morgan Dr. with a large butcher knife in one hand and his mother’s head in the other.
“(Officers) ordered the suspect to drop the knife, which he did, and he was arrested without incident,” said Chief Terry Wright with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
Funes Machada is originally from Honduras is not a U.S. citizen, and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations has issued a detainer on the teen.
According to court documents, he was taking a medication for some kind of psychosis.
Mike Waters, the Franklin County district attorney, said Funes Machada’s “mental state will be a primary interest” over the next few weeks. Waters said it could take weeks or months to determine exactly what the situation is.
Waters reviewed the recording of the 911 call and said he will not release it.
Funes Machada, who finished 10th grade at Rolesville High School, was given “safekeeper” status due to his mental state, according to Franklin County court officials. The designation is part of guidelines issued by the North Carolina Department of Corrections to assist with prisoner housing when safety and security are a concern.
He was transferred from the Franklin County Jail to Central Prison in Raleigh Tuesday morning.