An Arkansas man allegedly broke into his parents’ home, shot his mother in the face with a bow and arrow after an argument over a cat, and forced them to give him money before stealing his father’s truck.
Joseph Alexander, 29, is facing numerous charges, including attempted capital murder, residential burglary, and domestic battery. After stealing his father’s car, Alexander allegedly led police on a chase in Missouri before colliding and being arrested.
The Bentonville Police Department began investigating around 8 a.m. on March 24 after receiving calls about a woman, later identified as Alexander’s mother, who had “multiple arrows protruding from her face and head.” Paramedics rushed her to the hospital.
Detectives interviewed the mother in her hospital bed. She stated that she heard the cat meowing at her bedroom door around 6:45 a.m. on the day in question.
As she opened the door to let the cat out, she “felt like her ear drum had popped and saw blue,” according to the affidavit. She lay down on the floor.
“When I did, I got popped two more times; it was an arrow sticking out of my head,” she reportedly told cops.
She screamed, and her husband came outside to see what had happened. Her son allegedly told her husband, “I won’t kill you because that will be a double homicide.” Alexander then demanded money, she explained. She reportedly told cops that she “played dead” while her son yelled at her until her husband and son entered the garage. After unsuccessfully searching for her phone, she took her walker and went to her neighbor’s house for assistance.
Alexander’s father told police that he was about to take a shower when he heard his wife scream. He dashed downstairs and saw his son standing over his wife, holding a crossbow as she lay on the ground, arrows flying out of her head. The father fought with his son to separate him from his wife, then attempted to reason with him.
The suspect is said to have said, “Don’t worry about it, Dad, she’s dead.”
Alexander then demanded money, and his father sent him $2,000 via Cash App, the maximum amount possible, according to the affidavit. He allegedly demanded more money and sent himself an additional $1,400. The suspect wanted money from his parents’ bank account, but they couldn’t remember the passcode, police said.
The father gave his son his credit card and the keys to his truck, and they walked to the garage. Alexander bolted in his father’s truck, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, the father told cops that a few days before the incident, his son came to their house and demanded money, saying something like, “You need to give me what is mine, or else I’m going to have to go to the next level.” Concerned that his son would carry out the threat, the father made it a point to lock all doors and windows, but apparently forgot to lock the window leading to Alexander’s room, which is how the suspect entered the home, according to police.
Inside the house, there were obvious signs of a struggle, including a blood trail through the living room. During the fight with his son, the father sustained numerous bruises and scratches, according to police reports.
Deputies from the Stone County Sheriff’s Office, approximately 75 miles away, spotted the stolen truck and attempted to stop it, but Alexander allegedly fled and later crashed. Alexander was taken into custody, and a paramedic reportedly asked him what had happened. He allegedly claimed that he was at his parents’ house petting his cat when his mother said something to it. According to the affidavit, he claimed to have shot her with a “toy crossbow”.
“It did not go in all the way, and she was just laying there screaming, so I pulled it back and did it again,” he allegedly told me.
Following his Miranda warnings, Alexander allegedly told Bentonville detectives that he walked from his home to his parents’ home and entered through his former bedroom window early that morning, claiming he didn’t want to wake them. Detectives questioned him about why he shot her.
“I didn’t have a reason,” he allegedly admitted. “I’ve just lost my cool. When I woke up, I assumed she was going after my cat for some reason. I literally stood up and lost my shit over my cat.”
The investigators couldn’t believe it.
“You shot your mother in the head three times because of a cat?” a detective inquired.
“Ya, like that is the best process I understand of what happened,” Alexander said, according to police.
According to police, Alexander has been arrested three times since 2014, for assault, fleeing, and aggravated assault on law enforcement.
He remains in the Benton County Jail.
