Christopher McCullough (WRAL/YouTube).
A jury in North Carolina has found a man guilty of murdering his mother and injuring his father, in an attack he claimed was driven by drug use and lack of sleep.
Christopher McCullough was convicted on Friday of first-degree murder for the 2023 death of his 75-year-old mother, Mary McCullough. According to a report by local ABC affiliate WTVD, McCullough was not found guilty of the other charges he faced, which included the attempted murder of his father and the theft of a dog.
He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The jury had deliberated for around seven hours after receiving the case on Thursday.
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The accused’s father, John McCullough, gave testimony against his son. As reported by local CBS affiliate WNCN, the father described to jurors how his son had been “uncontrollably violent” and possessed “superhuman-like strength” since the age of seven. Despite efforts ranging from boarding schools to stays in mental health facilities, they could not address his behavior. Ultimately, he and his wife sought a domestic violence injunction to keep their son out of their home.
But he ignored that order and entered the home on Aug. 8, 2023. He reportedly told jurors he was high on Adderall and other drugs and hadn’t slept in six days. He said he asked his parents for gas money. When they refused, he began beating his father — all in the presence of his 4-year-old son — though he did not admit to hurting his sickly mother, who used an oxygen tank and weighed just 100 pounds.
“Me and my dad got in a fight, I struck him twice to the ground, I noticed that my mother was face down,” he said, according to local NBC affiliate WRAL.
The younger McCullough then took his son and fled. Cops rushed to the home to aid the elder McCulloughs. There was blood everywhere and both victims were unconscious, cops testified.
“I noticed she had bruises and cuts on her arms,” Raleigh police Officer Phillip Merle said, per WNCN. “Because of the way she was laying, I noticed she had a large puddle of blood underneath her neck. My training officer asked who did this to her. And she was able to grunt out, ‘My son’.”
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She was rushed to the hospital where she died nearly a week later.
Christopher McCullough’s son, now 6, was not physically injured in the incident but has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder from witnessing the incident.
“[The boy] has disclosed witnessing the defendant hurting nanny and poppy,” his therapist Tara Pawlyk reportedly testified. “That poppy was on the ground while the defendant covered his mouth, limiting his ability to breathe. He has also disclosed nanny was laying on the stairs, [which] the defendant had bashed her head against repeatedly.”
Defense Ricky Elmore said his client did not mean to kill his mother and just wanted gas money.
“John came at him the wrong way,” Elmore reportedly said during closing arguments. “His flight-or-fight clicked in and he started assaulting John.”
But no matter his state of mind, prosecutors argued, there was no excuse to kill a woman whom he supposedly loved.
“If that is a momma’s boy that left his mom for dead that way, God help that mom,” prosecutor Melanie Shekita told the jury during her closing arguments.
