Police arrest son for death of 80-year-old Fresno woman
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno Police arrested James Albert Thomas, the son of an 80-year-old murder victim, on Wednesday night. The woman was discovered dead in her home in Central Fresno by a granddaughter who was coming to check on her.
Neighbors said trouble had been brewing at this house for several days, and in fact, Fresno Police were called to the house Tuesday night to get the woman's son to leave. In a strange development, his motorcycle was found abandoned along Highway 41 after her body was discovered in the house early Wednesday morning. Thomas was arrested on Wednesday night when he returned to his mother's home.
"A granddaughter came to the house," Lt. Joe Gomez with the Fresno Police Department said. "Grandmother lives here, she's 80, and she came to check on her grandma in the morning and to find her grandmother had been killed."
Gomez said the woman appeared to have died as the result of being hit with something in the upper body.
Neighbors told Action News the woman's son, 50-year-old James Albert Thomas, rode a loud motorcycle and had been staying there off and on for about a year. Police detained Thomas at the scene later in the day and are calling him person of interest. He was formally arrested on Wednesday night.
One neighbor described him as loud and strange. Arguments were frequently heard at the house, and last night police were called to remove the man from the home.
"We had been out here last night regarding him also," the neighbor said." My understanding he had lived here but she was trying to keep him away from the house."
