A Bladensburg, Maryland, man has been arrested and charged with murder after his mother’s handcuffed body was found inside their apartment, according to police.
Officers said they showed up to an apartment in the 4100 block of 53rd Place in Bladensburg at 11:10 p.m. Wednesday for a welfare check. When they arrived, they found 72-year-old Lorena Royster unresponsive, face down on a bedroom floor. She had a puncture wound on the left side of her neck and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to court documents.
Royster was also wearing a handcuff on her left wrist, according to police, who added that investigators found an unfolded pocket knife, open box cutter and screwdriver in the same bedroom where officers found her body. Police said it appeared to be a man’s bedroom.
Family members told police Royster lived in the apartment with 51-year-old Reginald English, her son, and that they last heard from Royster on Tuesday around 5 p.m.
Earlier in the day Wednesday, at around 1 p.m., Maryland Natural Resources Police responded to 792 Thompson Creek Road in Stevensville and saw English standing at the end of a dock on Cox Creek.
Police said when an officer drove toward him, English jumped into the water and began swimming away, before the officer convinced him to swim back to shore. The officer said when he came out of the water, police found $50 in cash, a silver necklace, a wallet and what appeared to be a woman’s engagement ring on his hand.
English gave the officer a false identity, according to charging documents, and told police that a gray Toyota Camry in the parking lot was his friend’s car. Officers ran the registration and discovered the vehicle belonged to his mother, Royster. English was then taken into custody on an emergency petition service and taken to the hospital for treatment.
On Thursday, after Royster’s body was found, police in Anne Arundel County transported English to Prince George’s County. When confronted by detectives about the death of his mother, he told them he knew she was found dead and that his sister told him Thursday morning, according to charging documents.
However, police said when they spoke with English’s sister, she said they hadn’t discussed their mother’s death and hadn’t spoken since Royster was found dead.
Police also said English displayed “harmful behavior toward himself” within the 24 hours his mother was found dead.
English is charged with first- and second-degree murder.
Police asked anyone with more information about the case to call detectives at 301-516-2512.
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