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Suspicious Death Leads to First-Degree Murder Charge
5 Jun
Summary
- Woman faces murder charges after man reported missing last month.
- Suspect already in custody for unrelated assault charge.
- Suspect linked to separate violent attack on elderly man.
Kayla Rose Bessette, 36, has been charged with first-degree murder and common law robbery in the death of 70-year-old Tony Maddox. Maddox was reported missing on May 27, having last been seen the previous day, and was later discovered deceased in a wooded area near Lincolnton. Authorities had been investigating his death as suspicious.
Bessette was already in custody in Mecklenburg County since late May, held on an unrelated aggravated assault charge. Investigators have connected her to a separate violent incident that occurred in Charlotte just days after Maddox's disappearance. In that attack, an elderly man was seriously injured.
According to an affidavit, Bessette allegedly followed the 79-year-old victim from a Food Lion on May 30, demanding money. She reportedly forced her way into his home, assaulted him, and stole his cash. Bessette was apprehended at a bus stop with bloody hands and admitted to strangling the victim, expressing satisfaction when asked about her intent to kill him.
