18-Year-Old Charged With Decapitating Mother’s Head

A North Carolina man who was in the U.S. illegally was arrested and charged with beheading his mother.

Oliver Funes-Machado was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother, who he reportedly beheaded with a knife. Authorities were called to Funes-Machado’s home after he called 911 on himself, and arrived to find the 18-year-old holding her head in one hand and a large butcher knife in the other.

“When they arrived, he was with the decapitation in his hand and it was a gruesome scene,” Sheriff Kent Winstead told WRAL.

The young man was taken into custody and jailed without bond.

“There is a victim that is now dead and there’s a grieving and anytime that’s the case, its horrific for that family and, as you can see, for the entire neighborhood and thus this office will do everything it can to ensure justice is served through a thorough investigation,” Franklin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Terry Wright said. 

After news of the gruesome murder broke, the Charlotte Observer discovered that Funes-Machado was a Honduras native who was in the country illegally and is now wanted for deportation.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency filed a detainer for Funes-Machado after his arrest.

“Given the charge,” ICE spokesman Bryan Cox told the Charlotte Observer, “the detainer would also apply at whatever point if/when he gets out of prison down the road. So either avenue. But the detainer does not preclude any criminal prosecution.”

Two young girls were reportedly in the home at the time of the killing but were unharmed. Another sibling of Funes-Machado was at school at the time.

The 18-year-old, who is the oldest of his mother’s children, will receive a mental evaluation. His attorney said that e has “some substantial mental health issues” and was “a pretty profoundly disturbed young man.”

Whether the rest of Funes-Machado’s family is undocumented is not currently known. 

Many readers supported Funes-Machado’s potential deportation.

“Prejudiced against illegal behavior, in favor of legal behavior: The person did not/does not belong in the United States – PERIOD!” one Charlotte Observer reader commented.

“Illegal immigrant decapitates mother. Not a great way to spread the message of open borders,” another added. 

“This is the kind of person the Democrats want to make it easier to be in our country. Liberalism as a policy fails every time it’s tried. SECURE OUR BOARDERS AND DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!” another reader wrote. 

Sources: Charlotte Observer, WRAL / Photo credit: WRAL