Residents of an Oceanside community were in disbelief Monday after learning that their neighbor is dead and that her son is accused of killing her.
Regina Sardina, 64, was found dead under suspicious circumstances Sunday at a home she owned on Shenandoah Drive.
She was first discovered by one of her three sons at around 12:30 p.m. and the Oceanside Police Department was called, Sgt. Tom Bussey said.
Sardina was supposed to meet another one of her sons in Las Vegas, but when she didn't show another son came to check on her and found her, according to Sgt. Bussey.
Police did not disclose how Sardina died but said she suffered severe trauma to her chest.
When officers arrived at the home they discovered her Mercedes was missing. It was found a short time later abandoned in the parking lot of a nearby Hobby Lobby.
Investigators found a wine bottle and vomit near the car, and said surveillance cameras caught Sardina's oldest son, Anthony Sardina, 37, leaving the car.
A witness told police he saw a man near the car who appeared very drunk.
According to police, the son caught a cab to Carlsbad where he was later arrested. He's scheduled to be arraigned on first-degree murder and other charges Tuesday afternoon.
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"I can't make sense of that because I just can't and imagine that, personally, a son hurting his mother," neighbor Greg Holmes said.
Other neighbors told NBC 7 Sardina lived in Las Vegas but would often visit San Diego. They said she didn't live in the home where she was found, which was recently put up for sale, but said her sons have been staying there.
"To hear that it was Tony surprised me because I didn't think he was living there for a while," neighbor Alejandro Castro said.
Some neighbors told NBC 7 they've heard some family bickering in the past but nothing that signaled violence. Another neighbor told police they heard screaming and banging coming from inside the home on Friday.
Police have not confirmed the time and day of Sardina's death.
