MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man accused of killing his mother in a Miami Beach apartment appeared before a judge Monday morning.
Officials conducted a welfare check at the Blackstone Apartments Saturday night when they found bloodstains on the floor. Following a trail of blood stains on the floor, they arrived at a trash chute, where they would locate the body of Elizabeth Caruso. Police said she was found with severe neck injuries, almost to the point of decapitation.
“The investigation revealed there was a trail of blood coming from that apartment unit to the trash chute and subsequently down a trash chute inside of a waste container,” said Miami Beach Police Public Information Officer Christopher Bess.
“The knife was in the sink and there was blood around that sink. The knife appeared to have been cleaned,” a detective told Judge Mindy S. Glazer, describing the scene investigators found.
Video obtained by 7News showcased the moments detectives arrested her son, 40-year-old Anthony Caruso, after he barricaded himself in his apartment for eight hours.
They said his mother flew in from New Jersey after she was concerned for her son’s well-being. She stayed with him at his apartment along 800 Washington Avenue in South Beach for a time before, police say, her son-in-law began to worry.
“She flew in from out of state to check on her son, who, we believe, suffers from mental illness, and unfortunately, the conclusion wasn’t a happy one,” said Bess. “The complainant who called in a welfare check was actually [the] son-in-law of the victim, and the reason why he contacted police is because he had not heard from his mother-in-law in a couple of hours.”
Anthony Caruso was transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center before appearing before a judge Monday morning.
“Who do you believe killed the victim?” Glazer asked the detective.
“Mr. Caruso,” the detective told her.
The judge told Caruso he would remain behind bars.
“There’s probable cause for second-degree murder and, sir, I am holding you with no bond,” Glazer told Caruso.
Caruso faces a second-degree murder charge and is expected to appear back in court on Tuesday.
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