He Went To Scare His Best Friend's Mom. When She Hit Her Head, He Panicked And Beat Her To Death With A Bat.

A teen went to scare his friend’s mom. When she got hurt during the incident, he panicked and beat her to death with a bat.

Now, he will spend decades behind bars.

This month, a Kansas judge sentenced Amadeus Courage Ballou-Meyer to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. He confessed to killing Hester Workman in 2021, according to WIBW.

Ballou-Meyer will be parole eligible after 15 years.

On April 24, 2021, police were called to a Topeka, Kansas, home after a 16-year-old reported finding his mother dead in the garage, according to the station.

When officers arrived, they found Workman dead, and she suffered severe trauma to her head.

Police started to investigate, and surveillance video showed a teen running from the home with a baseball bat. That led authorities to identify Ballou-Meyer as a suspect, according to the report.

Ballou-Meyer confessed to police that he snuck into the house hoping to scare his friend’s mom.

He then pushed her as she came up the stairs from the garage into the home, according to WIBW. But Workman fell back and hit her head. Ballou-Meyer then said he panicked, picked up the bat and hit her with it.

Ballou-Meyer fled the scene and threw the bat into a creek.

He was initially arrested and charged as a juvenile but pleaded as an adult in the case.

The victim’s son, Dillion, spoke to KSNT in 2021 and said he helped police identify the killer. He said he saw his best friend on the security footage.

“I hung out with Amadeus the day after it happened,” Dillon told the outlet. “He hugged me and told me he couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose a parent.”

Dillon recalled his mom’s selflessness and generosity and all her fun quirks, according to the report. She left their Christmas tree up year-round so that they didn’t have to move it to the basement.

“My mom worked hard for me and my sister every day, and I guess I didn’t really appreciate that until after I couldn’t anymore,” Dillon said.