Background: News footage of the home in Fayetteville, N.C., where Katherine Svaldi was found dead on Feb. 10 (WRAL). Inset (left): Isaac Tracy (Fayetteville Police Department). Inset (right): Katherine Svaldi (Facebook).
Seventeen-year-old Isaac Tracy was taken into custody on Tuesday following a police response to the home he shared with his mother, 49-year-old Katherine Svaldi. This followed an urgent welfare check prompted by a troubling call from Tracy to his grandparents, in which he reportedly confessed to killing his mother and leaving her body in the garage.
Shortly after contacting his grandparents, Tracy himself called 911, expressing his desire to be arrested because he had killed his mother. This self-reported confession led to immediate police action.
Officers arrived at the residence around 7 p.m. and discovered Svaldi’s lifeless body protruding from a recycling bin in the garage. She was declared dead on the scene.
Tracy was promptly detained by the police, who noted he had blood on him and appeared to have self-inflicted injuries. Investigators discovered a note on the kitchen table, allegedly penned by Tracy, explaining his reasons for the crime. However, the details of this note have not been disclosed, and authorities have not revealed any potential motive for the tragic event.
Police immediately placed Tracy into custody after finding him at the home with blood on him and “self-inflicted injuries.” According to the affidavit, a note was found on the kitchen table, purportedly written by Tracy and “detailing why he committed the crime.” The contents of that note were not made public, and a possible motive for the alleged killing was not provided.
Tracy made his first court appearance on Wednesday after being charged as an adult with first-degree murder. He is being held in custody without bond. His next hearing is scheduled for March 3.
Local NBC affiliate WRAL reported that according to a spokesperson for Cumberland County Schools, Tracy was a high school wrestler. Students who went to school with Tracy and rode the bus with him told WRAL off camera that they were shocked by the allegations.
WRAL reported that Svaldi was a mother of three. It was not known if her other two children were in the home at the time of her death.
