Clearwater Woman Fatally Beaten With Hammer, Stabbed By Son: Police

CLEARWATER, FL — A 24-year-old Clearwater man has been arrested after being accused of fatally stabbing and beating his mother to death with a hammer.

Clearwater police have charged Logan Lopez with first-degree murder, said police during a Sunday afternoon news conference.

Police said they were called to The Palms at Countryside Apartments, 25350 U.S. 19 N, around 5 p.m. Saturday after neighbors reported a woman screaming for help from one of the apartments.

Inside the apartment, police said they found Mary Beth Lopez, 53, dead. Her son, Logan, told the first officers on the scene and later repeated to homicide detectives that he killed her, according to Clearwater police.

Lopez said told police that the slaying had been planned for a year. He said he lured his mother to his apartment for the purpose of"putting an end to her." He told police that he beat her with a hammer and stabbed her multiple times, according to the police report.

Lopez has no previous arrest history with the Clearwater Police Department, however, he does have a history of being involuntarily admitted to a mental facility under the Baker Act, police said.