Inset left: Curtis Trent (Suffolk County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Kathleen Harrison Trent (GoFundMe). Background: The wooded area where Kathleen Trent’s body was discovered on Long Island, N.Y. (Google Maps).
A New York man has been taken into custody after allegedly fatally stabbing his mother and abandoning her body in a Long Island forest, according to police in the Empire State.
Curtis Trent Jr., aged 36, faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection to the death of 62-year-old Kathleen Harrison Trent, as reported by the Suffolk County Police Department.
This tragic event is believed to have taken place late last month.
Kathleen was last known to be in contact with anyone on January 27. Her disappearance prompted the Riverhead Town Police Department to issue a missing person alert two days later. On February 11, her remains were discovered in a wooded area off Connecticut Avenue in Manorville, a small suburban locality approximately 25 miles west of The Hamptons.
Authorities identified her remains four days after their discovery and concluded her death resulted from criminal activity, according to Patch.com.
On Wednesday, authorities apprehended the suspect at his mother’s residence on Forge Road in Riverhead, located about 5 miles east of where her body was found. This house was reportedly the last place she was seen alive, according to police statements.
Details about the slaying are currently scarce.
The missing person report was filed on Jan. 29 by the victim’s other son, Robby Trent, according to law enforcement.
The defendant allegedly stabbed his mother in the face, chest, and abdomen, according to court documents obtained by regional cable news network News 12 Long Island. The slaying is believed to have occurred sometime between the 27th and 29th of January, police said.
While authorities provided few details about the woman’s death, details of her life were not hard to come by. For 40 years, she worked at Riverhead Raceway, the lone auto racing venue on Long Island.
“Kathi was part of the fabric of our beloved track, for generations she knew families from the parents to their children and yes even their grandchildren,” the business wrote in a post on Facebook. “She’d know them by name, ask how they were doing, how the family was, she genuinely cared, it’s just who she was.”
The victim was also fondly remembered in a GoFundMe for funeral expenses started by her other son’s wife.
“She was a loving, caring mother and an amazing friend,” the fundraiser reads. “Her grandchildren meant the world to her, she was the type of person that would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it or find you one. She cared about so many people.”
Kathleen Trent would have turned 63 years old on Feb. 1.
The defendant was arraigned on the murder charge in Riverhead Town Justice Court immediately after his arrest.
The investigation in the case is said to be ongoing.
