Man charged with murder in 86-year-old mother's beating death

86-year-old woman dies after suffering head trauma; son charged

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo of Mark Burgos, who, along with his elderly mother, were found unconscious Sunday in their Bartram Springs home.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man is charged with murder in the beating death of his 86-year-old mother, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

The new charge was filed Wednesday against Mark Burgos, 62, after police said Tuesday that June Burgos, his mother who was found suffering from head trauma in a Bartram Springs home Sunday, had died.

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According to police, Mark Burgos and his mother were found critically injured Sunday morning in their home on Green Pond Drive. They were both taken to a Memorial Hospital. When the son was released from the hospital Monday, he was arrested and booked into the Duval County jail on a charge of battery on a person over 65 years old.  

Jacksonville firefighters, then police responded to the home about 11 a.m. Sunday after the man's wife, who runs a business in Virginia, couldn't get in touch with them. When a neighbor looked through a window and saw a man unconscious in the house, he called for rescue. Jacksonville Fire-Rescue called police, who broke into the home so the victims could be hospitalized.

Police initially suspected it was a domestic incident because they found no sign of forced entry into the home.

The police report said June Burgos had head trauma and Mark Burgos had lacerations on this neck and arm and a possible stab wound to his abdomen. Medical staff at Memorial Hospital told police that June Burgos had three skull fractures and was taken into surgery to stop bleeding on her brain. She died after being removed from a respirator.

According to the police report, Mark Burgos told officers at the scene that he wanted to die because he had hit his mother. When he was interviewed by police after he was released from the hospital Monday, he asked for a lawyer.

Mark Burgos faced a judge Tuesday morning on the initial charge of battery. 

Domestic violence shatters calm Sunday morning

Residents of the quiet neighborhood that borders St. Johns County are not used to seeing a half-dozen police cars outside a home in the area.

Melanie Gray said she'd lived in the area for three years and had never seen that level of police activity.

"I guess that can happen anywhere," Gray said.

"I've never seen so many trucks, so many emergency vehicles," said Bill Tyler, who lives across the street from the Burgos family. "There must’ve been a half-dozen police cars, a crime scene investigation truck, fire trucks came and went -- vehicles all up and down the street."

Neighbors said they had never known of any problems with the family.

"You never know what goes on behind closed doors," Tyler said. "Hope the Lord will straighten that out."