Prosecutors say a 17-year-old Florida teenager has been charged as an adult after he allegedly tried to set his mother on fire and hit her in the head with a baseball bat.
Davie police say they were called out to a home in the 7300 block of Stirling road where they found Harolyn Monroe, burned and beaten after she called 911 to report the violent incident.
“My son, he tried to kill me, please hurry,” Monroe told the 911 operator, court documents show. “Oh he’s right behind me, please send somebody.”
While still on the line with the 911 operator, Monroe could be heard asking her 17-year-old why he had struck her with the baseball bat and tried to set her on fire.
“Why did you feel that you needed to hit me with a bat and try to set me on fire,” Monroe asked while still on the line with 911. “Why did you do what you did?”
Her son's response was inaudible in the redacted transcript released.
At first, because of the amount of blood, police initially believed that the mother had been stabbed. Monroe told officers her son had also threatened her with a butcher knife that she grabbed from him, breaking the blade, David Police Sgt. Mark Leone said.
Monroe told officers that she had been having disciplinary problems with her son James and said that she had spoken to him about sneaking out at night and his use of social media.
Police say sometime after midnight, the 17-year-old created an improvised Molotov Cocktail by filling a glass jar with alcohol and stuffing a rag on the top. Monroe allegedly walked to his mother's room where he tossed the improvised device into the bedroom. The glass jar broke, setting the room and his mother on fire. Monroe then reportedly walked into his mother's bedroom where he used a baseball bat to "“intentionally hit his mother several times with the bat all over her body and head,” the arrest report said.
The teenager then allegedly grabbed a butcher knife and stabbed his mother in the stomach.
Harolyn Monroe was able to flee her apartment and call 911.
James reportedly told investigators he did it because he was angry with his mother.
“He stated that he was not trying to kill his mother, he just wanted to hurt her,” according to the report.
James Monroe was charged with attempted murder and making a destructive device with the intent to do harm. He
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