The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says an 18-year-old man admitted to killing his mother with a baseball bat and a knife on Monday, her birthday, after thinking about wanting to kill her and his stepfather for quite some time.
Deputies arrested Joshua Carmona, charging the teen with first degree murder and booking him into the Hillsborough County Jail.
Colonel Donna Lusczynski held a news conference on Tuesday morning to share more details about the case.
Watch the full news conference below:
According to officials, they were called to a residence on Hawthorne Trace Lane just after 4 p.m. on Monday and found 39-year-old Tahirih Lua D'Angelo (Tara) dead inside.
Officials stated that preliminary details indicated it was not a random act.
During the investigation, deputies identified D'Angelo's son, Joshua, as a person of interest. An alert for him and his vehicle was put out and shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Monday night, deputies spotted him in the area of I-275 North and Hillsborough Avenue.
Deputies conducted a traffic stop at I-275 and Livingston Avenue. Carmona pulled over and complied with the requests of the deputies.
As deputies transported Carmona back to the investigation office to conduct an interview, he spontaneously stated that he killed his mother.
Carmona went on to tell deputies that he had been thinking about killing his mother and his stepfather and when he woke up on Monday, he decided that was going to be the day. Monday was also D'Angelo's 39th birthday.
Deputies say he waited in the home and when his mother got home he distracted her, struck her with a baseball bat multiple times and then stabbed her in the neck.
A family member conducting a welfare check on D'Angelo found her dead inside the home just after 4 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Carmona told investigators that he felt there were ongoing family issues.
"A mother was killed on her birthday and now we have a 3-year-old who is going to be mother-less," said Colonel Lusczynski.
According to D'Angelo's Facebook page, she bought the townhome last year, and lived there with her husband and young daughter.
According to records, Carmona also lived in the townhome on Hawthorne Trace Lane.
Neighbors told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska that D'Angelo liked to walk her dog around the neighborhood.
"We've been friendly to each other and something like this happens, it's scary," neighbor Judy Wimbley said. "I've tried to think if I heard anything today. I didn't hear anything unusual. So, it's kind of heartbreaking."
Deputies continue to investigate the incident.
The Sheriff's Office is calling this a "pre-meditated first-degree murder." Carmona could face life in prison or the death penalty.
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