George Deason was sentenced for the death of his mother, Elsie Mae Deason. (Mug shot from Linn County Jail; Courtroom screenshot from KCRG/YouTube)
An Iowa man convicted of killing his mother with a “slapjack,” a whip-like weapon, was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
George Deason, 53, learned his fate in the death of his mother, Elsie Mae Deason, 71, found by the victim’s daughter at her home in Cedar Rapids in June 2020. A judge found him guilty of second-degree murder in March at a bench trial.
“I will never forget the day I walked into Mom’s house and found her in her bedroom,” said Deb Deason in her victim impact statement as read by the chief victim liaison for the Linn County Attorney’s Office, local ABC, MyNetworkTV, and The CW affiliate KCRG reported. “I will live with that for the rest of my life. It should have never happened. I wake up with nightmares because of him. I will hate him the rest of my life. He is a monster and should never be around people.”
Elsie Deason’s sister, Eddie Forde, said in her victim impact statement that George Deason has no remorse.
“He is an animal and a monster,” Forde wrote in her statement, The Gazette reported. “She was a kind, loving, gentle woman who deserves justice.”
Police said George Deason assaulted his mother on June 30, 2020. Officers were called to her home on July 1, 2020. Her daughter victim found her suffering serious injuries. She appeared to have been severely beaten and required hospitalization, the Cedar Rapids Police Department said in a news release.
Police quickly determined her son was a suspect in the beating and quickly found him. He threatened officers, kicking one of them, and resisted before officers took him into custody with the help of a police dog, officials said. He had on him a “slapjack,” a metal object inside leather and used as a weapon, authorities said.
He was booked into the Linn County Jail for robbery, assault on a police officer with a dangerous weapon, and interference with official acts with a dangerous weapon.
Authorities said he assaulted his mother trying to take $50.
Elsie Deason succumbed to her injuries on July 23, 2020. At trial, a social worker at the hospital testified that Elsie Deason told her she was scared her son would get out of jail and come after her, the Gazette’s Trish Mehaffey reported.
The defendant admitted to the assault but argued that the victim’s death was caused by an “intervening, superseding cause of pneumonia and a pulmonary embolism resulting from the assault,” conditions that worsened after she refused medical treatment, food and physical therapy, the paper reported.
Elsie Deason’s obituary said she loved spending time with her grandchildren and dogs, working in her yard, and wind chimes.
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