Bay Area sports reporter accused of stabbing, killing 74-year-old mother

A Bay Area sports writer is accused of stabbing his elderly mother to death this week.

Nicholas Roth, 39, was arrested at a home on the 600 block of Jones Road after 74-year-old Darlene Roth called 9-1-1 and said she had been stabbed around 5 a.m. on Nov. 8.

Officials said first responders attempted life-saving measures, and an ambulance rushed her to a hospital, but she died, according to the Walnut Creek Police.

Roth is a part-time employee with the Bay Area News Group, a group of papers in the San Fransisco area.

“One of our part-time sports writers was just arrested and charged with murdering his mom,” Nate Gartell, a California state and federal courts reporter for Bay Area News Group, VladTV contributor and “Bearer of Bad News” tweeted this week.

Roth was ordered held without bail in county jail. He was charged with murder and with elder abuse causing death as well.

“An absolute tragedy. She was a lovely woman, enthusiastic, energetic. She was involved in many community events,” Mayor Kevin Wilk told KRON 4 News.

“She just wanted to know what she could do to help the city. That was really what it came down to every time we met up she would say ‘I love the city, what more can I do to help the city?'”

The homicide was the fourth in the city of Walnut Creek in 2021 and was the first since 2018, according to The Mercury News.