A 29-year-old Seattle woman is in custody after police say she killed her 14-year-old son after beating him with an extension cord because he failed to complete his chores.
Officials found the boy while responding Thursday afternoon to a call from the Beacon Hill neighborhood, according to a statement from the Seattle Police Department. The woman now in custody told the 911 dispatcher she was spanking her son with an extension cord and it went too far, according to The Seattle Times.
After Seattle police entered the woman’s home, they found her 14-year-old son unresponsive. Their identities are currently unclear. Emergency crews took the boy to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition, and he later died of his injuries, police said.
As police arrested her, the woman allegedly told them she struck her son repeatedly with the cord because he didn’t do his chores. Police say she then revealed she pushed her son against the wall, causing him to hit his head, fall and go limp, the Times reports.
The woman was previously convicted of third-degree assault in South Carolina seven years ago, according to the Times. Her sister also accused her of threatening her in 2021, but the case out of nearby Pierce County was ultimately dismissed.
“She is a very unfit mother and needs anger management,” the woman’s sister said in a statement to the court, per the Times. “She is always yelling and screaming at her kids. They eat only (2 or 3) times per day.”
She is being held in King County Jail on a $3 million bond after appearing in front of a judge Friday. She’ll be formally charged next week, the Times reports.
The Independent has contacted the Seattle Police Department for more information.
