Authorities in Tennessee say a man wanted on suspicion of murdering his own mother was arrested at an airport in Georgia.
The Carter County Sheriff’s Office say the victim’s body showed evidence of bullet wounds, as WJHL reported. Deputies were able to make entry into the home after finding a nail stuck in the back door lock.
According to WTVF, 71-year-old Edith Ralph was found dead inside of her home in Elizabethton by a caretaker.
Local police began investigating the death upon arriving at the Reynolds Road residence and soon identified 51-year-old John Christopher Ralph — her son — as a suspect.
“During the course of the investigation, Agents and deputies developed information that indicated the victim’s son, John Ralph, who lived at the same residence, was the individual responsible for her death,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations stated.
When authorities in Georgia caught up with him at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday evening, he was detained, arrested and transported to the Clay County Jail.
As of the latest updates available, he remained behind bars in Georgia with bond set at $1 million and was still waiting to be extradited to Tennessee. He is expected to face a criminal charge of murder in the first degree.
[Featured image: John Christopher Ralph, handout]
