May 15, 2008 11:45 am US/Eastern
McDonogh Student Charged With Mother's Murder
TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Police say an argument over grades ended with a Baltimore County teen beating his mother to death with a baseball bat.
CBS
Police say an argument over grades ended with a Baltimore County teen beating his mother to death with a baseball bat. That's just part of what happened inside a Towson home. The 16-year-old is now facing murder charges.
Mary Bubala has more on what detectives uncovered.
Lewin Powell III, 16, is being charged as an adult with beating his mother to death inside their Towson home and trying to kill his father.
A single argument between a mother and her son shattered a family and stunned a community.
"This is just really shocking," said neighbor Debbie Horsey.
Baltimore County Police tell
Eyewitness News, Powell, a student at the prestigious McDonogh School, got into a disagreement with his mom Tuesday afternoon over his grades.
"That escalated into a fight where he ended up hitting his mother physically with his hand and then beating her over the head with a baseball bat until he killed her," said Bill Toohey with Baltimore Co. Police.
Police say the teen confessed to dragging his mother's body to the garage and covering her with a blanket, then trying to clean up the house. His father got home around 1 a.m. from work and fell asleep on the couch.
"He woke up in the morning to find his son going after him with a baseball bat. He was able to resist the bat and stop the boy from hitting him," Toohey said.
Concerned coworkers had called police when 39-year-old Donna Campbell-Powell didn't show up for work--unusual for her--and investigators were outside the home when Powell and his father ran outside. His father was bleeding from severe head wounds.
Charging documents show the father said, "Thank God you're here. My son killed my wife."
"We saw the son come out in handcuffs," Horsey said.
Neighbors describe the teen as a quiet, straight A student, a baseball player at McDonogh. They can't imagine what happened inside the home.
"He's a sweetheart. He's been in my house a million times. He's a good boy. My son taught him how to play baseball," a neighbor said.
At McDonogh, classmates say they never imagined such a fury could be boiling beneath the surface.
"McDonogh just doesn't seem like a community that would take their anger out that way. We're such a close-knit community. That just really, really surprises me," said classmate Kristi Ferguson.
Powell is being held without bail.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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