Witnesses Heard Bloodcurdling Screams

Chilling screams came from a University City apartment overnight as a 24-year-old allegedly bludgeoned his 64-year-old father to death, a witness said.

Darren Chaker said he was staying with a friend at an apartment complex in the 9100 block of Judicial Dr. when the bloodcurdling screams awakened him.

"It's something that would echo in your mind if you heard it and it's something that I wouldn't want anyone else to ever hear," Chaker said.

He quickly called 911 and ran outside to flag down a patrol car. He says he and the officer ran up to the apartment and came upon a scene he'll never forget.

"There's nothing worse than coming out of the stair well, turning the corner and seeing two people.  One without any blood on them and then an older female just draped in blood," he said.

The frantic mother was accusing her son of murdering his 64-year-old father, Chaker said.

"Someone asked, who did this?  She pointed to the son. The officer, without a word, just put the son in handcuffs," he said.

Chaker said the man was calm and confessed to the murder, saying he did it because his father was a bad man.

"He seemed very coherent. He didn't appear to be under the influence of drugs, he didn't appear drunk," Chaker said.

He says those bloodcurdling screams still haunt him, along with the thought that even in this expansive apartment complex, no one else came to help.

"With hundreds of people living in this one building, there’s no doubt numerous people heard these screams for help. Nobody responded,” he said.

Police have not released the identity of the victim or the suspect and are still trying to find a motive in the case. Investigators would not confirm what type of murder weapon was used.

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