Erie police said a 40-year-old city man admitted to dumping large amounts of water on his bedridden mother and removing her oxygen tube when officers were called to the woman’s Stanley Avenue residence to investigate a report of an unwanted guest on the afternoon of Oct. 23.
Police charged the woman’s son, Chad Walburn, with felony aggravated assault and several misdemeanor offenses a day after the incident.
His mother, 63-year-old Phyllis Walburn, died a week later.
Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said he ruled the death of Phyllis Walburn a homicide, but said the cause of her death remains under investigation.
Chad Walburn remained in the Erie County Prison Monday on $20,000 bond following his arraignment Oct. 24 on the aggravated assault and other charges.
Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz said Monday the case remains under investigation, and her office is awaiting the results of the autopsy on Phyllis Walburn.
What happened inside the woman’s home?
According to information in the criminal complaint filed against Chad Walburn in the assault, his father called police on the afternoon of Oct. 23 and reported his son, who does not live at the residence in the 3800 block of Stanley Avenue, was inside and was not welcome.