Fla. woman allegedly killed her mom, cut out her heart to 'inspect it,' and left it in the hallway
03/12/2024 1:05 pm PDT
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (TCD) -- A 58-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of killing her mother and cutting out the elderly woman's heart.
On March 6 at approximately 1 p.m., Tallahassee Police Department Officers were called to the 2300 block of Hartsfield Way for a suspicious death investigation, and upon arrival, found an adult female deceased inside. Police arrested 58-year-old Earleen Tucker on a homicide charge and noted the investigation remained open and active.
According to Tucker's probable cause affidavit, a delivery person first called police because Tucker was allegedly standing outside naked and trying to get into the delivery driver's vehicle. Tucker's daughter also called 911 to say Tucker was "refusing to go inside or put on clothes."
When officers got to the home, Tucker reportedly started "rambling about 'free will'" as police attempted to move her inside. She allegedly resisted at first and told officers, "You need to take me to the police station. I have committed a grievous crime." Tucker agreed to go inside and put on a robe.
While in her house, Tucker reportedly "stood over an apparent human organ" that was several feet away from the front door and "began breathing heavily and grunting." One of the officers opened a door to look for clothes and discovered the victim, Lucille Tucker, deceased with sharp force injuries to her chest.
Tucker reportedly made comments to officers such as, "It cannot end. It will not end. The saga will continue, people, until I am in a jail cell. I have to be in prison for my actions."
She later put on a nightgown and went out to a police car while other officers secured the scene. Tucker's daughter told investigators Lucille Tucker moved to Tallahassee about a year ago because her health was declining and Earleen Tucker was a healthcare worker. One of Tucker's other relatives said she had been hospitalized about 30 to 40 years ago, but "there had been no other issues since."
Tucker's daughter, on the other hand, said she went to the hospital in 2009 "for similar issues." She reportedly did not know of a diagnosis, but she allegedly believed her mother could be schizophrenic.
On the day of the incident, Tucker reportedly called her daughter and asked her "if she could be anyone other than herself, who would she be?" In another phone call, she reportedly "apologized for not telling her who her father was." The daughter tried calling her back several times, but Tucker did not answer.
According to the affidavit, Tucker called her mother a "sacrificial lamb" and claimed she was "going to die in there with her." Tucker allegedly said, "I murdered my mom in that house. She was mean to be but I didn't care."
Investigators ended the interview, but Tucker reportedly made a comment about "cutting out her mother's heart to inspect it." Throughout her time in the interview room, Tucker "talked to herself almost nonstop for hours" and "made several admissions to killing her mother."
Detectives went back to Tucker's home and inspected the organ on the floor, which they confirmed was "the majority of a heart." The sharp force injuries on Lucille Tucker's body were "consistent with an evisceration of the heart."
The affidavit alleges Tucker killed her mother in "a premeditated fashion."
Leon County court records show Tucker pleaded not guilty to first-degree homicide. She is being held in the Leon County Jail without bond.
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