Michael Jones and Andrea Vail (Facebook/Andrea Ferrari Vail).
A man in Pennsylvania is accused of beating his mother to death during an argument before taking numerous drugs in an attempt to hurt himself, authorities say.
Michael Sean Jones, 46, faces charges including criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person, abuse of a corpse, and aggravated assault in the death of 76-year-old Andrea Vail, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
On Wednesday at about 3:15 p.m., the Pennsylvania State Police said it was dispatched to a home on the 1200 block of Donovan Road in Brackney, Pennsylvania. The area is just 7 miles or so south of Binghamton, New York.
Troopers said they had received a report about a dead woman inside the residence.
Once they got there, troopers said they found a man outside, a man they later identified as Jones. Someone else was there — the 911 caller — who said she arrived at the home to check on Jones' son when she came across Vail's dead body.
Vail reportedly had "several bruises on her body that were indicative of blunt force injuries." She was pronounced dead.
Jones was taken from the scene to a hospital "due to consuming numerous narcotics in an attempt to harm himself," police added.
Investigators searched the home and said they found evidence that Jones attacked his mother, causing her death. Authorities did not share a suspected motive or what the reported argument concerned.
An autopsy was conducted on Vail the following day, and it determined that Vail "was the victim of homicide" due to the "multiple traumatic injuries."
Jones was arrested in New York and was awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania as of Friday.
Court records do not yet list a scheduled court date for the defendant.