Lataya Powell Wilkes-Barre teen girl stabs her mother Temeeka Tucker to death moments after taking her phone away at their Pennsylvania home. Brother, 11 was also stabbed and left with non life threatening injuries.
A 13 year old teen girl is accused of stabbing her mother to death at the family home in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania over the weekend.
Lataya Powell allegedly stabbed her mother, Temeeka Tucker, 44, and younger brother, 11, at their home in 20 block of South Sherman Street in Wilkes-Barre on Friday just on 12.30pm.
She is being charged as an adult with homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence, FOX56 reported.
‘I’m the reason my mom is dead.’
It was while the teen girl was being led away, when asked by a reporter if she had ‘any emotion at all,’ the girl responded, ‘regret, guilt and self-disgust’ before being placed in the back of a police vehicle according to PAHomepage.com.
Powell reportedly told police that ‘I killed my mom and she’ll never forgive me if she is alive’.
Powell also told them she threw the weapon on the neighbor’s doorstep, according to a police affidavit.
Once in custody, Powell told police: ‘I don’t have my phone because my mom took it before our fight,‘ and ‘I’m the reason my mom is dead.’
Police said they found the mother with multiple stab wounds to her neck, back and heavy blood flow coming from her head when they arrived on the scene.
She was later pronounced dead by the Luzerne County coroner.
The 11-year-old boy on the scene with apparent stab wounds to the back is expected to recover.
Family was new to neighborhood
It remained unclear what caused the teen to fatally stab her mother and brother and whether the parent taking the girl’s phone from her set her off.
In a statement released on Saturday investigators said they noted that kitchen drawers and cabinets were padlocked in the home.
One drawer used to store cutlery had been broken into with the padlock found on the ground nearby.
Neighbors told Fox56 that the family were new to the neighborhood.
‘I’m just thankful I wasn’t out here because you never know what could’ve happened,’ one neighbor told Fox 56.
‘But I look at it that something good could come out of this and that she can get the help she needs. My prayers go out to the family and I’m sorry this happened,’ they added.
The father’s whereabouts was not immediately clear.
Powell has a preliminary hearing set for April 10th.
She’s currently being held in the Luzerne County Prison.
