'Someone Was Murdered,' Man Told 911 After Grandmother's Death, Affidavit Says

JACKSON, NJ — "Somebody was murdered."

That is what Louis Brown told a Jackson Township police dispatcher when he called 911 early Monday and asked for police to come to the apartment he shared with his grandmother at the Jackson Green Apartment Complex.

"Did you do it?" the dispatcher asked. "Yeah," Brown said, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in his arrest.

Louis Brown, 18, has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon in the death of his grandmother, Darlene Brown, at their apartment, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Darlene Brown, 69, was found stabbed to death in her bedroom when Jackson police answered the call that came in about 7 a.m., authorities have said.

Louis Brown was standing at the front door when they arrived, and came out with his hands up and was arrested immediately, authorities said.

He has refused to speak with investigators since his arrest, according to the affidavit, so what led up to the slaying remains a mystery.

Interviews with his mother and with Jackson Police Officer Matt Colangelo, who is the department's school resource officer, revealed that Brown had struggled with issues for several years, the affidavit said.

Brown is a senior at Jackson Township High School but has been on a homeschool program for the last two years after saying he was going to kill people while pointing his hand and imitating a gun, Colangelo told detectives, according to the affidavit.

Brown's mother, who is Darlene's daughter, told detectives he had lived with his grandmother most of his life and that she and her son did not have a good relationship and did not talk much. He did not have a relationship with other members of the family, she told detectives.

On Sunday, however, Louis Brown called his mother at about 9:30 p.m. but she could not tell what he was saying before he hung up, she told detectives. She texted him but he did not respond.

Louis Brown's mother told detectives "she felt like something was 'off' with Louis based on the phone call and did not seem to be himself," the affidavit said. She told the detectives she had a feeling Brown might do something and that it "felt like he was going through some sort of mental episode when he called her."

The mother also texted Darlene Brown, who did not respond, but she assumed her mother was working or asleep, she told detectives.

A neighbor told authorities loud music was blasting from the Browns' apartment about 1 a.m. and said that was very unusual, according to the affidavit.

About 7 a.m. Louis Brown called 911 and asked for police officers to be sent to the apartment. The dispatcher asked what they were needed for and he said, "for a murder," and then
followed up with "somebody was murdered", according to the affidavit. After Brown gave the address, the dispatcher asked if there was someone at the address who had been murdered and Brown said "yeah," then said "yeah" again when the dispatcher asked if the person who had been killed was in the apartment then.

"The police dispatcher then asked the suspect 'did you do it' and the suspect replied with 'yeah', " the affidavit said.

He told the dispatcher in reply to questions that he had been drinking and that there was no gun in the apartment, only knives, and that he was going to wait outside for officers.

The dispatcher was still on the line when officers arrived and Brown was arrested, the affidavit said.

Inside the apartment they found Darlene Brown on her bed covered with blankets, and when they pulled the blanket back found a pool of blood around her head and two knives sticking out of her; she was pronounced dead at 7:48 a.m., the affidavit said.

The medical examiner later determined she had at least eight stab wounds to her head and neck, the affidavit said.

When they searched the apartment under a warrant later in the morning, they found 11 knives in Louis Brown's bedroom, and a knife stuck between the nightstand and bed in Darlene Brown's room, in addition to the two knives left in her body, the affidavit said.