Christopher McCullough (WRAL/YouTube).
Jurors in North Carolina have convicted a man for murdering his mother and injuring his father in a beating he claimed was fueled by drugs and sleep deprivation.
Christopher McCullough was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday in the 2023 death of his 75-year-old mother Mary McCullough. Local ABC affiliate WTVD reported that McCullough was not convicted of other charges, included the attempted murder of his father and larceny 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.
More from Law&Crime: ‘I wish you well in hell’: Daughter rejoices at sentencing of nurse mom who tortured her younger sister to death
The defendant’s father, John McCullough, testified against his son. According to a courtroom report from local CBS affiliate WNCN, the father told jurors ever since his son was seven, he was “uncontrollably violent” and had “superhuman-like strength.” They tried everything to treat his issues from sending to boarding school to stays at mental health hospitals. None of it worked. Eventually, he and his wife and obtained a domestic violence injunction against him and forbade him from entering 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’.”
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
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.
