By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, RALEIGH, NC, Weds. Mar. 15, 2017: Family and friends are raising money to send the body of the Honduras immigrant shockingly beheaded by her eldest son on Monday, March 6th, back for burial in her native land.
Loved ones gathered on March 10th at the church 35-year-old Yesenia Machado once prayed to say adieu to the woman whose life was cut short by her 18-year-old son, Oliver Funes-Machado, in their Pilot community of Franklin County, NC, near Zebulon.
Sheriff’s deputies in Franklin County arrived after a 911 call from Funes-Machado who told police he killed his mom because he felt like it.
The first deputy to arrive found Funes-Machado with a butcher knife in one hand and his mother’s head in the other, officials have said. He decapitated his mum in front of her other kids, aged 2 and 3. When Funes-Machado saw officers, he reportedly placed the head on the ground and was arrested, officials have said.
“It was tough, it was a traumatic scene, a gruesome scene,” said Terry Wright, Chief of Staff at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
Funes-Machado is being held at Central prison, where officials are evaluating his mental health as he faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly cutting off the head of his mother. He is in the country illegally and is now wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
Bryan Cox, a spokesman for ICE in the southern region, said the agency has filed a detainer for Funes-Machado. An ICE detainer means Funes-Machado would enter ICE custody if he bonds out of local criminal custody in the murder case.
The Funes-Machado family want to send Yesenia Machado’s remains back to Honduras, so she can be buried there. Donations can be made via GoFundMe here or at Wells Fargo Bank branches to account No. 1502806985 in the name of Walter Funez, the husband of the victim. The family has so far raised $2,040 of their $6,000 goal on GoFundMe.
