A woman from the Bronx has been accused of fatally beating her mother with a cooking pot and then calling 911 to confess to the crime, as reported by the police.
The victim, 46-year-old Selma Mclean, was allegedly attacked by her daughter, 26-year-old Skydajah Patterson, shortly after Patterson was discharged from a mental health treatment facility.
The incident took place in their shared apartment at NYCHA’s President Adams Houses in the Bronx at 3:40 a.m. on Monday.
‘I just killed my mom’
Following the alleged murder, Patterson contacted emergency services and admitted to killing her mother. Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene to find Mclean unconscious and with injuries to her face and head. Patterson was still holding the bloodied cooking pot when the police arrived, and she confessed to hitting her mother on the back of her head.
Despite the tragic event, no charges had been filed against Patterson by late afternoon on Monday, and she was taken into custody.
Mclean texted goddaughter before brutal murder
Prior to the incident, Mclean’s goddaughter, Danaeyah Reynolds, received a text from Mclean expressing fear of Patterson, who had recently been released from a psychiatric ward.
Reynolds mentioned that Patterson had been in the psychiatric ward from February until the previous week and had exhibited concerning behavior, such as hearing voices and speaking in a different voice.
Patterson’s mental health has been going down since death of her son
Reynolds said Patterson lost her son in August, and ever since, her mental health has been declining. She added that Patterson didn’t “properly heal from it.”
“She just wanted to be over it and be out and everything to be fine and she just kind of went forward like that. She was worrying about the break-up with the baby’s father.”
Last month, Reynolds mentioned that Patterson’s mental well-being took a nosedive. She described how Patterson was convinced by inner demons that her own mother, Mclean, was plotting against her.
Patterson had a prior “domestic incident report” involving her mother as the victim in October 2022, as per law enforcement sources. Mclean had three daughters, but only Patterson and another daughter resided with her, as per family members.
