Texas man who fatally strangled mother and buried her body in backyard set to be executed
11/09/2022 3:19 pm PST
HOUSTON (TCD) -- A 61-year-old man is scheduled to receive a lethal injection this week after fatally strangling his mother and burying her body in her backyard in 2003.
In October 2003, Tracy Beatty moved in with his mother, Carolyn Click, and the two had a "volatile and combative" relationship, The Associated Press reports. A neighbor reportedly claimed Beatty assaulted his mother multiple times prior to her death.
One time, Beatty allegedly assaulted his mother so badly "that he had left her for dead."
During one of their daily arguments, a neighbor testified that Beatty said he "just wanted to shut her up, that he just wanted to choke her and shut her up," according to The Associated Press.
A month later, in November 2003, Beatty strangled his mother to death after an argument, and he buried her body in the backyard of her mobile home in Whitehouse, Texas, The Associated Press reports. Then, he allegedly used her money to purchase drugs and alcohol.
According to the Texas Tribune, Beatty told police that he was drunk when he came home and didn’t realize his mother was dead until the next day.
Ultimately, Beatty was reportedly found guilty of capital murder. Prosecutors alleged that he killed his mother during a home burglary, despite living with his mother at the time, the Texas Tribune reports.
Texas judges with the Court of Criminal Appeals reportedly claimed Beatty was upset with his mother for controlling him and that he was jobless and broke. According to the Texas Tribune, Click wouldn’t drive her son to a job interview one time because "she just didn’t feel like it," the neighbor had said.
On Wednesday morning, The Associated Press reported that an appeal to halt the execution was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Beatty will be the fourth inmate in Texas to be executed this year and the 13th in the U.S. He remains on death row until his execution on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 9, records show.
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