Jurors in North Carolina convicted a man of murdering his mother and injuring his father in a beating he claimed was motivated by drugs and sleep deprivation.
Christopher McCullough was found guilty of first-degree murder on Friday in the 2023 death of his 75-year-old mother, Mary McCullough.
According to local ABC affiliate WTVD, McCullough was not convicted of other charges, including attempted murder of his father and larceny of a dog.
He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
The jury deliberated for approximately seven hours after receiving the case on Thursday.
The defendant’s father, John McCullough, testified against him. According to a courtroom report from local CBS affiliate WNCN, the father told jurors that his son had “uncontrollably violent” behavior and “superhuman-like strength” since he was seven years old.
They tried everything to treat his problems, from sending him to boarding school to staying in mental health facilities. None of it worked. He and his wife eventually obtained a domestic violence injunction against him, preventing him from entering their home.
However, he ignored the order and entered the house on August 8, 2023. He reportedly told jurors that he was high on Adderall and other drugs and had not slept in six days. He said he asked his parents for gas money.
When they refused, he began beating his father in front of his 4-year-old son, but he refused to admit that he had hurt his sickly mother, who weighed only 100 pounds and used an oxygen tank.
“Me and my father got into a fight, I struck him twice to the ground, and I noticed that my mother was face down,” he told local NBC affiliate WRAL.
The younger McCullough took his son and fled. Cops rushed to the home to help the elder McCulloughs. Cops testified that there was blood everywhere and both victims were unconscious.
“I noticed she had bruises and cuts on her arms,” Raleigh police officer Phillip Merle told WNCN. “Because of how she was lying, I noticed a large puddle of blood beneath her neck. My training officer questioned who had done this to her. She was able to grunt out, ‘My son’.”
She was rushed to the hospital and died almost a week later.
Christopher McCullough’s 6-year-old son was not physically injured in the incident, but he has developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of witnessing it.
“[The boy] has disclosed witnessing the defendant hurting nanny and poppy,” his therapist, Tara Pawlyk, reportedly stated. “That poppy was on the ground, and the defendant covered his mouth, limiting his ability to breathe. He also revealed that the nanny was laying on the stairs, which the defendant repeatedly bashed her head against.
Defense Ricky Elmore stated that his client did not intend to kill his mother and simply wanted gas money.
“John came at him the wrong way,” Elmore allegedly said during closing arguments. “His flight-or-fight clicked in and he started assaulting John.”
However, prosecutors argued that regardless of his mental state, there was no excuse for killing a woman he claimed to love.
“If that is a momma’s boy who left his mom for dead that way, God help that mom,” prosecutor Melanie Shekita told the jury during her closing remarks.
