A Brownsville man has been charged with murder in the death of his mother on Friday afternoon.
The victim was identified as 48-year-old Gerlene A. Thorne of Brownsville.
At 2:56 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, the Linn County 911 Dispatch Center received an emergency call from a residence at 35288 Blakely Ave. in Brownsville. Dispatchers were told that a woman had been shot by her son, who had fled the residence in a vehicle with three children, Sheriff Tim Mueller said.
Deputies, with the assistance of the Oregon State Police, converged on the area, on the lookout for the suspect vehicle described as a green Chevrolet Tahoe. A deputy responding to the scene spotted a vehicle matching that description on Brownsville Road just north of the Brownsville city limits.
After the vehicle was stopped, the driver, Josh Shaddon, 31, was detained as a person of interest. Two of the boys, ages 4 and 2, are the suspect’s children and were returned to their mother. The third boy, 6, a nephew, was also returned to his mother.
Deputies learned that Thorne resided at the Blakely address with her husband and Shaddon.
Shaddon was arrested and charged with murder. He was lodged in the Linn County Jail.
Though dispatchers origianlly were told that Thorne had been shot, Mueller said Monday that an autopsy conducted Saturday revealed that she had been stabbed more than once and died from those injuries.
The investigation is continuing but no other arrests are expected at this time.