Man Lured Mother To His Apartment, Murdered Her After Year-Long Planning: Cops

KEY POINTS

Logan Lopez has been arrested on the charges of first-degree murder
He is accused of murdering 53-year-old Mary Beth Lopez
Logan is currently detained at Pinellas County Jail

Clearwater, Florida, -- A Florida man has been arrested after he admitted to beating and stabbing his mother to death after luring her to his apartment. The 24-year-old suspect told detectives that he had planned the killing for a year.

Logan Lopez, from Clearwater, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 53-year-old mother, Mary Beth Lopez, Law & Crime reported.

The incident came to light after Clearwater police responded to a call from Logan's neighbor, who reportedly heard a woman screaming for help from the man's house at around 5 p.m. Saturday.

"Inside that apartment, they found Mary Beth Lopez dead. Logan Lopez told the first officers on the scene, and later homicide detectives, that he had killed her," officials said, reported 10 Tampa Bay.

During interrogation, Logan, who was "matter of fact," said he had been planning the murder for a year and lured his mother to his apartment to put an end to her.

Mary Beth reportedly drove over to Logan's house to give him his mails, which were delivered to his family home. When she reached the residence, Logan asked her to come inside to check out his furniture. Logan then closed the door before striking her multiple times with a hammer and stabbing her with a knife, police said.

"The thing that I'll put out here is that this was a brutal, heinous crime. Just shocks the conscience, to be honest with you," Police Major Illich-Hailey told reporters Sunday.

Homicide detectives have charged Logan Lopez, 24, with first-degree murder in the brutal slaying of his mother. He beat her with a hammer and stabbed her multiple times after luring her to his apartment Saturday evening. He said he had been planning the crime for a year. pic.twitter.com/lQc3C3OcPb
— Clearwater Police Department (@myclearwaterPD) July 17, 2022

Logan has no previous criminal history. However, he was detained in February under Florida's mental health-related Baker Act, according to reports. Details of his detention were not revealed except that it involved another family in Tampa.

Baker Act allows families to get temporary detention and emergency mental health services for people who are impaired because of their mental illness.

"He [Logan] had said that previously, she [Mary Beth] had enslaved him. What that means, we're not sure. We're still trying to understand the dynamics of all this," Illich-Hailey added.

Logan is currently detained at Pinellas County Jail, according to court records.