Woman Indicted For Beating Death Of Mother In South Jersey: Report

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Gloucester County grand jury indicted a woman on charges she beat her 80-year-old mother with a broomstick and caused fatal injuries after a dispute, a report said.

Loretta A. Barr faces charges of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault, and unlawful possession of a weapon according to jail records. Barr, 65, is a resident of Washington Township. Read more — Washington Twp. Woman Beat Mother To Death With Broomstick: Officials

A grand jury has indicted her on those charges, and a Superior Court judge ordered she remain in the Salem County Correctional Facility according to NJ.com.

Barr and her mother, Florence Dicrisio, were fighting in a Sewell apartment, according to FOX 29. The fight was the evening of August 6.

Barr's attorney Mark Bernstein argued she acted in self-defense, according to NJ.com. Bernstein said Dicrisio had been diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease and "was prone to violence," that report said.

Officials originally charged Barr with assault, but added the manslaughter and weapons charges after seeing Dicrisio's injuries, the FOX 29 report said.
Dicrisio had a brain bleed, broken ribs, and compacted vertebrae, according to NJ.com. She told police Barr hit her with a broomstick several times on her face and head, the report said.

First responders took Dicrisio from a Washington Township hospital to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, the report said. She died three days later of blunt force trauma to the head and chest, NJ.com reported.