A former basketball player who played pro ball in Croatia after being kicked off his college team for violent behavior has been arrested for his mother’s murder in Florida.
Eric Cobb, 28, stands accused of shooting 51-year-old Erika Winford to death and leaving her body wrapped in a blanket and towels in the backyard of her home in Durkeeville.
Neighbors reportedly heard Winford screaming and the gunshots Sunday evening, but none of them bothered to call 911.
“I heard gunshots, and I heard the lady scream. I didn’t know what to do because I really didn’t know if she was playing or if it was real. But it was real,” one naeighbor, who insisted on anonymity, told WJAX.
Winford’s body was discovered on Monday by friends who were unable to reach her. Other friends told police that she had said her son was “possessed” and needed medication the day before the murder. She said she was afraid of him, the friends said.
Cobb, who played basketball for the University of South Carolina and the University of Connecticut, has been charged with second degree murder, according to Law&Crime.
He started his college hoops career in South Carolina but left the school after he was arrested as a freshman for shooting a BB gun at an unoccupied car. He played briefly for a Florida junior college before moving to UConn, where he was mostly a reserve. He was suspended during one season for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
He played pro ball in Croatia before returned in the United States because of the COVID pandemic, WTLV reported.
Following her son’s 2023 arrest for resisting a officer with violence, Winford wrote letters to the court on his behalf, noting his struggles with mental health issues and asking for help.
