SYDNEY — An Australian woman is facing a murder charge after authorities said she decapitated her mother late Saturday in a home outside Sydney.
Harrowing details: police have described the murder of St Clair woman Rita Camilleri as one of the most horrific scenes they’ve ever had to face. Daughter Jessica is accused of beheading her mother and dumping the body part in a neighbour’s yard. @9NewsSyd pic.twitter.com/0duyOtrDxm
— Tiffiny Genders (@tiffgenders) July 21, 2019
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a neighbor said Jessica Camilleri, 25, of St. Clair, approached his home about 11:40 p.m. and told him that she had killed her mother during a dispute.
"She said, 'I need help.' I said, 'What sort of help do you need?' She said, 'Call the police or ambulance,'" neighbor Ali Bostani told the newspaper, adding that Camilleri's "face was full of blood."
He said the severed head of Camilleri's 57-year-old mother, Rita, lay on a path outside, the newspaper reported.
When police arrived, they discovered the victim's body inside the Camilleris' home, according to 9News. A 4-year-old boy, believed to be Camilleri's nephew and the victim's grandson, also had minor injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, the Australian Associated Press reported.
Police arrested Camilleri, who told a judge via video Sunday that she is mentally ill and needs medical treatment, the Morning Herald reported.
She added that she couldn't move her fingers after the attack.
"I couldn't even wash myself properly when I had to shower to get all the blood off," she said, according to the Morning Herald.
Camilleri likely will undergo a mental health evaluation, police said.
Her nephew is "being cared for by his family," police told 7News.
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