A 15-year-old Wisconsin boy was charged Monday with first degree murder in the death of his grandmother late last month.
South Milwaukee Police said they were called to the home on August 27 and found fire personnel working on 68-year-old Elizabeth Totsky to reestablish a pulse, WITI reported. She was taken to a hospital, where she died four days later.
The teen called 911, telling dispatchers that his grandmother was in the kitchen when she had a seizure and fell to the floor. An autopsy, however, revealed hemorrhages and fractures in the woman’s neck. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide from strangulation.
The boy was arrested last week, when a juvenile court commission directed media not to release his name. On Monday, he was charged as an adult, and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel identified him as Edward Barbara, saying the teen and his older brother lived at the home with his grandmother and their step-grandfather.
Police said that Totsky’s husband told them it was the second time Barbara had strangled his grandmother. Totsky told him that about two months ago, the boy sneaked up behind her and put her in a chokehold, choking her unconscious. She said she woke up to the teen standing over her.
According to WISN, Barbara confessed when confronted with the autopsy results, saying he strangled his grandmother from behind with his right arm and elbow for about five minutes.
The boy will be tried as an adult. As his court appearance on Monday, he was ordered held on a $100,000 bond.
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[Featured image: Elizabeth Totsky/obituary photo]
