80-year-old woman dies after badly beaten with broomstick by daughter in Gloucester County
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- A woman is facing charges after she is accused of badly beating her 83-year-old mother with a broomstick. Her mother later died.
Loretta Barr, 65, is facing aggravated manslaughter and assault charges.
Gloucester County officials say the incident happened at an apartment in Washington Township on the 2200 block of Woodmont Circle.
Investigators say Barr badly beat her mother with a broomstick, hitting her several times on her side and on her head on Aug. 6.
Eyewitness News spoke with several neighbors who say they've been kept in the dark and have been trying to figure out what happened for days.
One woman said she saw blood in the hallway and detectives had been out to the area several times since last week.
Neighbors say they heard screams.
According to court documents, when police arrived, the mother told officers her daughter beat her with a broomstick. She was taken to a local hospital and then transferred to Jefferson in Philly for trauma to her head and ribs.
Eyewitness News is told the 83-year-old woman died three days later.
A neighbor who spoke with CBS3 off camera says she often spoke with the mother and daughter.
"The mother, I would see her. She had dementia really bad, so she was standing out in front of the building some days. She would wander around. It's just really sad, I'm really saddened by it," the neighbor said.
The county prosecutor has now ruled her death a homicide.