Baltimore man admits to assaulting, murdering 75-year-old mother
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Police said a man killed his 75-year-old mother Wednesday afternoon and admitted to the crime.
This tragic murder rattled a community in Northeast Baltimore.
"It's not a norm," neighbor Norkeita Beckham said.
Baltimore Police said they got a call about a death on Gainsborough Court just before 3 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
When they got there, officers found Stewartress Burke, 75, with trauma to her upper body. She died at the scene.
Police arrested her son, Kevin Burke, 52, for her murder.
"How can you do that to your mom?" Beckham said.
Police said Burke told them he assaulted his mother during a fight.
"What is it that made him too mad for him to react like that?" Beckham asked.
A neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, said Burke lived with his mother and that she always had pleasant interactions with him.
"I was very surprised," the neighbor said. "I've seen the young man coming a going and he would speak and I would speak to him… I don't want to desensitize it because that's not right. The times that we are now you just never know what people are going through mentally, emotionally, financially you just never know."
Police have not said what the fight between Burke and his mother was about. That's a question the community is wondering.
They're also saddened to see something like this happen so close to the holidays.
"That's what makes it even worse, it's close to the holidays," Beckham said. "They have my most sincere condolences and they will be in my prayers and I'm sad this had to happen."
Burke is in jail. He's charged with first and second-degree murder and assault.
