A man is accused of murdering his mother after her body was found nearly decapitated and mangled in a dumpster outside a Miami Beach apartment complex, police said.
On Sunday, Miami Beach Police announced they had arrested 40-year-old Anthony Caruso for the alleged murder of his mother, Elizabeth, at his South Beach apartment the day before. He is currently booked in jail on a second-degree murder charge.
A welfare check leads to a deadly discovery
Just after 9:20 p.m. Saturday, Miami Beach Police responded to a welfare check at an apartment building on 800 Washington Avenue.
According to the arrest documents, officers were dispatched to the apartment to check on Elizabeth Caruso, who had arrived in Miami Beach from New Jersey midday Saturday to check in with her son, Anthony, who police said had a history of mental illness. The caller, identified as Elizabeth Caruso’s son-in-law, was concerned because he had not heard from her for over six hours.
Upon arrival, officers found blood on the apartment’s front door and blood smeared on the hallway floor from the door to the trash room directly across from it. When officers opened the door to the trash room, they saw more blood on the walls and floor surrounding the trash chute. They then went down to the first floor and found a locked room where the bottom of the chute was located. Miami Beach Fire Rescue then responded to the scene and helped breach the lock, and they entered the trash room where the dumpster was located. Once inside, officers found a dead woman – later revealed to be Elizabeth Caruso – inside the dumpster, the arrest documents said…