Earleen M. Tucker (Leon County Detention Center) and police at the home where she allegedly killed her mother (WCTV screenshot).
A 58-year-old woman in Florida has been arrested for allegedly killing her own mother in gruesome fashion, cutting out the elderly woman’s heart and leaving it in the hallway for police to find.
Earleen M. Tucker was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree premeditated murder in the slaying of Lucille Tucker, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Tallahassee Police Department at about 1:15 p.m. on March 6 responded to a residence located in the 2300 block of Hartsfield Way after receiving a call regarding a naked woman outside the home attempting to get into a delivery driver’s vehicle. A second call came in from someone who told the dispatcher that the naked woman was her mother and she was refusing to come into the house and put clothes on.
Upon arriving, first responders located the woman — later identified as Earleen Tucker — still naked outside of her town house. Police said she “began rambling about ‘free will’ as officers attempted to coax her into the residence to put clothes on.” A short while later, Earleen Tucker told the officers to take her to the police station, saying, “I have committed a grievous crime.” She then agreed to go inside and put on a robe.
Officers accompanied her into the home where they said she “stood over an apparent human organ” that was on the ground about 8 feet inside the door. When officers asked what it was, Earleen Tucker allegedly began “breathing heavily and grunting.” That’s when an officer looking for clothing went into a room and found a woman — later identified as Lucille Tucker — dead from apparent chest trauma.
Police said Earleen Tucker sat down on the couch and “laughed nervously” before continuing to ramble.
“It cannot end, it will not end,” she said, per the affidavit. “The saga will continue, people, until I am in a jail cell. I have to be in prison for my actions.”
A family member told police that Earleen Tucker was a health care worker and Lucille had moved in with her at the Hartsfield Way home because her health had been declining. The family member further revealed that about 30 to 40 years earlier, Earleen Tucker had been hospitalized for mental health issues and was hospitalized with similar issues a second time about 15 years ago.
In an interview at police headquarters, detectives said Earleen “mostly rambled” before saying that she “could not speak with a white man, but would tell anything to a Black person.” A Black detective then took over the interview.
“During that interview, Earleen told (the detectives) she had discovered through investigation that she was a white woman and she could not give up power and control to a Black man,” the affidavit states. “Earleen then spontaneously uttered, ‘I killed my mother.’ Earleen continued to ramble about killing her mother, saying she was a ‘sacrificial lamb’ and that she was ‘going to die in there with her.””
She allegedly confessed a second time later in the interview.
“I murdered my mom in that house,” she said, per the affidavit. “She was mean to me but I didn’t care. I loved her black color but she didn’t love mine.”
After officers formally placed Earleen Tucker under arrest, they said she made a statement referencing “cutting out her mother’s heart to inspect it,” then talked to herself “almost non-stop for hours.”
Authorities later confirmed that the organ found in the home was Lucille Tucker’s heart.
Earleen Tucker appeared in court on Friday and entered a plea of not guilty. She is currently being held in the Leon County Detention Facility without bond. It was not immediately clear when she is scheduled to appear in court again.
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