An 18-year-old accused of beating his grandmother to death at an Erlanger home says he thought the older woman was armed, while police records show the attack was unsolicited.
When police responded to an attack on Ridgecrest Drive on October 8, they found 74-year-old Cheri Oliver unconscious on the living room floor in a pool of blood.
Her grandson, Wyatt Testerman of Independence, was arrested at the scene and is charged with murder in Kenton County District Court.
Investigators say Testerman used his fists and a metal drinking cup to repeatedly punch Oliver, who died at the hospital of blunt force trauma to the head.
Family watches a movie before the attack
During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Erlanger Police Detective Tom Loos said Testerman told police he had been watching a movie with his family when his grandmother became suicidal and had to sit in a chair.
Testerman told Loos that his mother, who was also in the house, began acting erratically and went outside to call the police. He followed her to stop her, Loos said.
He went back inside, met his grandmother at the top of the stairs and began hitting her, according to the detective’s account of Testerman’s interview with police.
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However, witnesses said Testerman became violent “for no apparent reason,” according to a criminal complaint.
Testerman’s mother told police she saw her son attacking Oliver and she hit him with a stick to get him to stop, Loos said.
Another witness heard Testerman say before the attack that Oliver was “suicidal and a terrorist” and warned her to remain seated in a chair or “she would suffer consequences,” the detective added.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” Testerman said during an outburst in court on Tuesday. “I thought she had a gun.”
Loos said police found no injuries on Testerman after his arrest, although he was covered in blood.
The case goes to the grand jury
Judge Ann Ruttle determined there was enough probable cause to send the case to a grand jury, which will decide whether Testerman will be prosecuted in Circuit Court, where felonies are tried.
Ruttle also denied Testerman’s request to be released from prison briefly to attend his grandmother’s funeral.
“She wouldn’t need a funeral if he hadn’t killed her,” Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said.
Testerman’s public defender declined to comment on the case when reached by The Enquirer.
Court and jail records show Testerman is currently in the Kenton County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police: Family tried to stop NKY man accused of grandmother’s murder
