A Mom Filed an Eviction Notice After Her Teen Son Failed to Follow House Rules. So He Strangled Her to Death, Cops Say.
Conner Kobold allegedly called the cops several times before telling them there was a 'dead person' in a house nearby, police said.
Feb. 16 2024, Published 10:01 a.m. ET
Law enforcement officials in Indiana said a 19-year-old man in is facing charges after he allegedly strangled his mother to death after she tried to evict him.
Around 4 p.m. on Feb. 5, officers responded to a home in Valparaiso after several calls for assistance were placed by an unknown male, later identified as Conner Kobold, according to the Valparaiso Police Department.
During one call, WXIN-TV reported, Kobold told dispatchers, “I need you to send a police car here right now."
He then hung up.
Court documents obtained by WGN-TV show Kobold, who sustained scratches on his face, asked an officer to handcuff him and place him in the back of a squad car.
While inside the police vehicle, Kobold said that "there is a dead person inside of the house on the corner,” court documents state.
Police investigated the nearby residence and located Kobold’s mother, Shanelle Burns, unresponsive without a pulse.
Medics transported Burns to a nearby hospital for treatment and she died on Feb. 7, and officers identified Kobold as the primary suspect in the case.
Court documents state Burns suffered “substantial” brain damage before her death, small ligature marks on her neck and at one point her body temperature plummeted to 93 degrees.
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At the residence where she was found, investigators said the furniture had been moved, suggesting a struggle occurred.
An autopsy determined Burns died of asphyxiation secondary to strangulation, and her death was ruled a homicide.
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Officials said before the fatal attack, Burns filed an eviction notice against her teen son because he allegedly failed to follow “agreed upon house rules.”
Kobold was arrested and booked into the Porter County Jail.
He was initially charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and strangulation. After Burns passed away, his charges were upgraded to include murder.
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