A 60 year old woman was pronounced dead in her home last Friday morning, leading to a homicide investigation conducted by the Mattoon Police Department. Officers were responding to call placed at 9:04 a.m. on February 7th in the 2900 block of Oak Ave., upon their search, responders discovered a deceased woman with clear, blunt force trauma to her head. During the investigation, authorities quickly identified the person of interest as her own son, 31 year old Douglas Reed.

Located in Moultrie County, Douglas Reed was apprehended just over an hour later at 10:46 a.m.. After being brought in for questioning, Reed admitted to the murder of his mother and provided details about having struck her in the head multiple times using a hammer. Reed stated that he had killed her in the early morning hours that Friday and had fled the scene using his deceased mother’s car.

Following his confession, Reed was placed into custody and charged promptly with first-degree murder. He was later transferred to the Coles County Jail. Yet to be disclosed in this case is a possible motive that Reed might have had for the killing, and the investigation remains open.