The grandson of an 88-year-old woman found murdered in her Alabama home has been charged with her death.
Sean Delong WIlson, 48, was booked at the Jefferson County Jail on Thursday and held on $150,000 bond for the death of Doris Gooden at her Engsley, Alabama home.
The already convicted felon reportedly found his grandmother deaconess midday Wednesday and police then said on Thursday that Gooden had been stabbed and beaten to death.
Sean Delong WIlson, 48, was booked at the Jefferson County Jail on Thursday and held on $150,000 bond for the death of Doris Gooden at her Engsley, Alabama home
Friends stated that they had been unable to reach her and once Wilson supposedly discovered her dead wrapped in bedding. Police were called after.
‘Whoever this individual is doesn’t have heart,” Birmingham police Lt. Sean Edwards said.
‘It’s pretty cruel.’
Peggy Smith, who has acted as a caregiver to Gooden and went to church with her, told AL.com that she was unable to reach the older woman by phone on Tuesday, which wasn’t uncommon.
Friends stated that they had been unable to reach her and once Wilson supposedly discovered her dead wrapped in bedding
She said that they had a system where if she didn’t answer, Smith would go over to Gooden’s house and tap on her bedroom window.
Gooden would normally respond and Smith, then, would know that everything was ok.
After repeated calls, Smith called Wilson who said he was at the doctor’s office. He told her that he and the victim’s daughter also tried to reach her but failed to do so.
Wilson told Smith that his grandmother kept the back door unlocked in case he needed to get inside and informed the woman that she could go inside to see if she was there.
Gooden had been a resident at the house for decades and her grandson lived with her for a time, but recently moved to his own place, according to friends and family. She was also a deaconess at Pleasant Hills Baptist Church
Smith asserted that she went to the house, walked in the bedroom and called for the victim but heard no answer. The lights had been off.
She left, came back to check the bathroom and didn’t see her.
Wilson then told the woman he would go check and Smith was on the phone when he found the body in the bedroom.
Gooden had been covered by bed sheets.
A collective of family members and churchgoers gathered at the scene as investigators collected evidence.
Wilson was taken into custody and held overnight in the city jail. A formal murder warrant was issued against him on Thursday.
Gooden had been a resident at the house for decades and her grandson lived with her for a time, but recently moved to his own place, according to friends and family.
Smith said that someone knocked out Gooden’s window with a pick axe last week. but she didn’t call police to report the incident.
Court documents show that Wilson was convicted of first-degree robbery in 1993 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to a 2004 second-degree assult charge, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Police have not released what led to the killing.