An Ohio man has been charged in the death of his mother, who was found in a car in a grocery store parking lot with severe injuries from an apparent assault.

Portsmouth Police responded to a call early Saturday morning about a man jumping off the Grant Bridge and found Michael Smith, 61, on the bank of the Ohio River with injuries from the jump.

Smith told officers he wanted to kill himself and was taken to Southern Ohio Medical Center for treatment. While there, he made statements indicating his mother was in a Cadillac in a Kroger parking lot and that she was in “bad shape” and needed medical treatment.

Officers responded to the parking lot and found the car with 85-year-old Carol Sue Swynn, Smith’s mother, stuffed into the front floorboard. She was lifeflighted to Cabell Huntington Hospital in West Virginia and died from her injuries the next day.

Meanwhile, Smith was transported to a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for further treatment, while Portsmouth officers and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation processed the Cadillac where Swynn was found and the apartment where she lived with her son.

Investigators determined that Smith had severely beaten his mother before jumping off the bridge. A warrant was issued for his arrest on a murder charge, and he was taken into custody when he was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

Smith is currently jailed in Franklin County, awaiting a hearing on transporting him back to Scioto County.

For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.

[Featured image: Michael Smith/Portsmouth Police Department]