Man Strangled His Mother to Death with Cord Because He Was Angry She Was Dating

An Illinois man has been convicted of first-degree murder for killing his mother in September 2023. 

Norma J. Caraker’s son Neil Howard, 46, killed her in her Troy, Ill., home because he did not approve of her dating, according to a statement from the Madison County IL State’s Attorney’s Office. 

He strangled his 60-year-old mother on Sep. 13, 2023, shortly after she went on a date, the statement said.

Howard “wrapped that cord around her neck and he pulled, until she stopped breathing,” Assistant State’s Attorney Luke Yager told jurors during the week-long trial. 

Yager presented evidence showing Howard’s resentment over his mother’s dating life. 

“This defendant had had enough of his mother,” he told jurors, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. Yager said Howard was angry about his mother dating and “not giving him money.”

“[Howard got] angrier and angrier and angrier, until he got drunk enough that he couldn’t take it anymore,” Yager said, per the State’s Attorney’s statement.

Caraker was a former waitress and the widow of the ex-mayor of Troy, according to her obituary.

“Norma never met a stranger, loved and took care of many family and friends,” part the obituary reads. 

Several well-wishers left notes in the obituary, including customers she had waited on; one customer said Caraker helped them raise funds for multiple sclerosis research with her tips.

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Howard’s defense attorney, David Fahrenkamp, told the News-Democrat that there will be an appeal.

“I don’t argue things that I don’t believe in,” he said, per the outlet.. “I believe in this case. I believe in Neil.”

The defense argued that there wasn’t enough focus on other possible suspects, the News-Democrat reported.

“The jury returned its verdict, and it’s guilty,” a spokesperson for the state’s attorney’s office told PEOPLE in response to the defense’s claim.

One of Howard’s sisters testified in his support; other family members, including his other sister, were reportedly seated behind prosecutors in court, the News-Democrat reported.

Howard is scheduled to be sentenced at an unspecified time later and faces up to 60 years in prison, the State’s Attorney’s office said.