A Florida teen allegedly stabbed an elderly man more than 100 times while both were living at a care facility in what police described as a "freaky event."
Moses Ojeda, 18, stabbed an 81-year-old man 113 times at a home care and independent living facility on May 19, according to police. When authorities asked him why he had stabbed the man so many times, police said that he told them: "The knife wasn't very sharp."
Ojeda faces first-degree murder charges and has a long history of mental health issues. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that in the last year, Ojeda had been involuntarily committed six times.
According to Judd, Ojeda's diagnoses included ADHD, Schizophrenia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, anxiety, and sudden outbursts of rage.
Judd said that Ojeda had no criminal history but that there were indications that he had committed acts of domestic violence against his mother.
"But his mother was protective of him, and she wanted to get him help, and she really meant well and went above and beyond to help him," Judd said. "But he was violent and dangerous, and he murdered this person."
Judd said that after Ojeda was released from his latest involuntary commitment, she took him to the independent living facility. She told the facility to hide their knives and they did so. Still, within five hours of arriving at the facility, Ojeda was able to find a knife and attacked the elderly man as he slept, according to police.
Judd said that Ojeda confessed to the killing and said that "voices in his head" told him to do it. Ojeda described the man as a "good guy" and reported no negative interactions with him before the killing.
"This is a freaky event," Judd said. "It's a dangerous event."
The killing was not discovered by staff until the following day. During the interim, Judd mentioned that Ojeda was roaming the neighborhood and had to let back into the facility by staff because he forgot the code for the door.
Judd said that staff had determined that Ojeda had greater needs than the facility could provide, but by then, he had already murdered the elderly resident.
