Florida Man Accused of Fatally Stabbing His Mother Because ‘She Got on My Nerves’

A pre-med student in Florida allegedly confessed to fatally stabbing his mother because she "irritated" him, authorities said.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, 21-year-old Emmanuel Espinoza, a pre-med student at the University of Florida in Gainesville, had asked if he could stay with his mother, 46-year-old Elvia Espinoza, in Frostproof, about 60 miles south of Orlando, for the weekend.

At around 2 p.m. on April 6, she opened the door to her son and was stabbed to death.

"She ran from him," Sheriff Grady Judd said in a video statement. As it happened, "she was talking to a family member on the phone."

Emmanuel Espinoza called 911 and confessed, and was taken into custody.

"We talked to him, and he confessed," Judd said. "He said, 'You know, I have wanted to kill my mother for many years because she got on my nerves.'"

When investigators asked him what his relationship with his mother was like, "he said, about an eight out of 10 that he really loved her, but she irritated him and he made up his mind today on his way from Gainesville that he would murder her," Judd said.

Elvia Espinoza was a second grade teacher at Ben Hill Griffin Elementary School in Frostproof, and was "well loved by the community," Judd said.

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"Her family, friends, students and colleagues at the school and with Polk County Public Schools are in our prayers," the sheriff's office said.

Emmanuel Espinoza was taken to the Polk County Jail and charged with first-degree murder.

TMX contributed to this report.