COCOA, Fla. – A 17-year-old accused of stabbing and beating someone in Cocoa back in November tried to kill his own mother, according to police.
Tobias Brewer was arrested on Nov. 30 when police said they responded to a Cocoa home at 1202 Japonica Lane after receiving a call from the mother of one of the suspect’s friends, saying the boy told her “Toby” killed his mother.
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According to an arrest affidavit, Brewer told investigators that he was upset that his mother was “constantly on his case” about cleaning his room.
Cocoa police responded to the residence and located Brewer’s mother laying on her back in the doorway of the laundry room, covered in blood with multiple stab wounds on her body and her nose almost completely detached, the affidavit shows.
As officers were calling for fire rescue, the victim took a breath and said, “Toby did this,” the report reads. She was airlifted to a hospital where she was listed in critical, but stable condition, police said.
During the investigation, Brewer’s friend and another male said they were in front of the suspect’s house when they heard loud bangs coming from the back of the residence. The friend said he walked to the back of the house and saw Brewer standing over his mother holding a frying pan and the mother saying, “Toby stop.”
According to the affidavit, Brewer left the scene in a black Kia Rio that was registered to the victim. Police said the two friends got into a gray Jeep Wrangler that also belonged to the victim and left the scene, following Brewer. The friend told police that they followed Brewer to his girlfriend’s house, where she left with the suspect.
The friend said at some point they were separated from Brewer, according to police.
Police were able to locate Brewer’s general location in Titusville using an emergency ping from his cell phone. Brevard County deputies were requested to respond, but a new ping located the suspect traveling north on Interstate 95 in Volusia County, according to the affidavit. Volusia County deputies located the vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but Brewer fled south on I-95, police said.
According to the arrest affidavit, Brewer returned to Brevard County and exited I-95 near exit 231 and headed east towards US-1, crashing into a wooded area. Police said the occupants fled into the woods, later being located and taken into custody.
During questioning, Brewer admitted to stabbing his mother multiple times with a knife that he carries around, the affidavit shows. Police said he also admitted to striking his mother in the head with a frying pan until the handle broke.
Police said he told them he does not like cleaning his room and was tired of his mother “constantly harping about it.”
According to the affidavit, Brewer said that after the attack, he went into his mother’s room and took the keys to both of her vehicles and money from her purse so that he can have money “once he left the area.”
He faces charges for attempted first-degree murder, grand theft of a motor vehicle and fleeing and eluding law enforcement.
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