An Arizona man is facing a murder charge after authorities say he decapitated his mother before her own surprise birthday party on Friday.
The woman was supposed to go to a family gathering to celebrate her birthday, but she never showed, Sgt. Bryan Hoskin with the Glendale Police Department said at a press conference Monday afternoon.
A person called police around 11:41 p.m. Friday night and said a family member inside a home in Glendale, about 10 miles northwest of Phoenix, had been decapitated, Hoskin said.
When officers arrived, they found the front door to the small apartment open. The shower was running and there was blood in the area, Hoskin said. Officers also found the victim, 49-year-old Teresa De Jesus Cruz Rubio, underneath a blanket.
The victim had stab wounds to her abdomen, chest and arms, authorities said.
Officers searched the home to see if anyone else was inside and in the kitchen sink, they saw a knife block and several knives, Hoskin said.
Investigators said they found that one of the knives in the kitchen sink had hair and blood on it and it looked as if someone had tried to clean the knives.