A 51-year-old Florida man faces murder charges after confessing to stabbing and shooting his 77-year-old mother, while complaining to officers that his handcuffs were too tight. Derek DeWayne Vaughn allegedly told police that God instructed him to kill Jerry Lea Vaughn, whom he called 'the devil.' He is being held without bond in Sumter County Jail.
Derek DeWayne Vaughn was arrested Tuesday following the Monday evening attack at a home in Sumter County, Florida. Jerry Lea Vaughn called 911 around 8:30 p.m., screaming, 'Help me, my son just stabbed me, he is coming to kill me.' First responders found Vaughn outside with his wife and two children and detained him immediately. Police say he stabbed his mother in the heart with a butcher knife and then shot her in the head with his late father's gun when she did not die initially. Vaughn confessed, stating, 'I mean, I know I killed my mom, but that one is uncomfortable,' as officers handcuffed him. He added that God told him to shoot her and declared, 'I killed the devil.' Emergency personnel rushed Jerry Vaughn to UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital in The Villages, where she died later that night. The case shifted from Wildwood police to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office due to jurisdiction. Vaughn underwent a mental health evaluation and was found to understand right from wrong, with no prior criminal history. He faces charges of dangerous and depraved murder without premeditation and a weapons offense for firing in an occupied dwelling. Neighbors remembered Jerry Vaughn as a caring woman who hosted her son's family and doted on others. 'She was the light in so many people's lives,' one told WESH. Vaughn was scheduled for a first court appearance Wednesday.