LOCAL NEWS
Police Say Man Was Arrested in Death of Mother, Partially Streamed Live on Facebook
NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah – A man was arrested for investigation of murder in the death of his mother, but he’s also accused of streaming part of it live on Facebook.
Police were called to an apartment complex at 55 W. Center Street, North Salt Lake on Saturday night.
Officers were originally told that a woman had shot herself, but after speaking with her son, they say that might not be the case at all.
Police have identified the suspect as 24-year-old Jeffrey Antonio Langford.
Langford was taken into custody and his mother was found in the apartment with an apparent gunshot wound, but police say it wasn’t consistent with a suicide.
According to a probable cause statement, Langford posted three Facebook Live videos from inside the apartment.
The report says in one of the videos, “a male can be heard crying saying mom and a female is seen slumped over.”
The report also says the male “states that he didn’t do this and she shot herself right in front of me.”
It also says “the male keeps filming himself and says she’s not dead I have to finish it.”
In a probable cause statement, Langford told police his mom was “still alive and in pain” after she shot herself. He said he didn’t want her to “be in pain or be a vegetable” and shot her once.
While searching the residence, police found a revolver in Langford’s mother’s hand, according to a probable cause statement. Police said the revolver’s hammer was in the cocked position when they found it. The probable cause statement went on to say that the cylinder housed six rounds total and had three live, unspent rounds, and three empty chambers.
Three spent casings, of the same manufacture as the live rounds, were found in Langford’s room away from the victim’s body, which was found in the living room, according to the probable cause statement. Officers said they also found a note, which appeared to be a suicide note from Langford’s mother.
When police asked Langford why the gun was cocked, he said he removed the spent casings and reloaded the gun because ““he was going to kill himself”, according to the probable cause statement. He told police a family member called him and stopped him from shooting himself.
Sonia Nolazco lives in the same apartment complex. She says it was blocked off for hours.
“There was close to 15 to 20 cops. Everything was blocked. We couldn’t get in our unit,” said Nolazco. “We’ve been here almost five years and we have never seen anything like it.”
The victim has been identified as 45-year-old Graciela Holker.
Nolazco says she didn’t know Holker well, but was saddened by the news of her death.
“She was a very friendly lady. Very happy, cleaning her house. She was always cleaning. She was always out and about throwing out her trash,” said Nolazco. “Every time she saw us she was very pleasant. We’ve never had an issue. She was always very sweet.”
Langford was arrested for investigation of murder, obstruction of justice and carrying a dangerous weapon under the influence of alcohol/drugs.
Police say the case is still under investigation and an autopsy report should give them a better idea of exactly what happened.
KSL Digital contributed to this article