COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A judge ordered an Avalon Park man held without bail after he was charged with brutally stabbing his mother to death, leaving her with a knife in her eye, prosecutors said.
Michael Spaulding, 32, is accused of stabbing his 67-year-old mother Monday morning in the hallway of his apartment building in the 1100 block of East 81st Street.
Virginia Spaulding had come to the apartment to bring medication to her son, a regular occurrence, friends and neighbors said.
Michael Spaulding fled the building after the slaying, taking his mother's purse and car, prosecutors said.
Indiana police found the purse in a Speedway gas station garbage can.
Spaulding was captured in Evergreen Park after trying to steal wine coolers from Bleeker's Bowling Alley, prosecutors said. He was in his mother's car when he was arrested.
When he appeared in court Tuesday, Spaulding refused to speak with an attorney representing him and could be heard mumbling.
"He said, 'That's not my mama,'" said Assistant Public Defender Marijane Placek, who requested that he be seen by mental health professionals at Cermak Hospital.
Placek said Spaulding apparently believed his mother "was an alien."
Neighbor John Cooley told DNAinfo.com on Monday that he was eating his breakfast when he heard a loud commotion outside his apartment.
When he looked into the hallway, Cooley saw Michael Spaulding stabbing Virginia Spaulding, he said.
Michael Spaulding was in boxer shorts, lying atop his mother and stabbing her in the stomach and head, Cooley, 34, said.
"I knew he had problems," Cooley said. "But not like that. ... That's hectic. You open your door and see him killing. ... I looked over the banister, she was laying on her stomach and he was on top of her stabbing her."
Cooley, who said he doesn't have a phone, yelled at Michael Spaulding and then ran around the building to get help, he said. By the time he returned, Spaulding was gone, taking off with the victim's purse and car, Cooley said.
Prosecutors confirmed that a neighbor witnessed the slaying. When police arrived, they found Virginia Spaulding dead on the apartment building's second-floor landing. A knife was sticking out of her eye, prosecutors said.
Quentin Forrest, a family friend, said Virginia Spaulding was "a sweet woman and an evangelist."
Cooley said the woman spoke to him all the time and brought him Bible pamphlets.
Melinda Brown, a neighbor, said the victim's relative kept to himself and was hard to understand because of "his slurred speech." She had helped the man find the apartment after they both were released from a nursing home.
Virginia Spaulding frequently visited, bringing food and groceries, Brown said. Brown saw her Sunday afternoon, she said, and she was smiling and wearing all black with an orange scarf.
Prosecutors said Michael Spaulding has felony convictions for armed robbery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery in Kankakee County. He also has several misdemeanor convictions for theft.
