Background: Surveillance footage shows Elizabeth Caruso in a hotel lobby in Miami Beach, Florida (Miami-Dade State Attorney”s Office). Inset: Anthony Caruso (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A man is accused of killing his mother in Florida after she flew down to the state to check on him, with video and court records shedding light on the severity of the case.
Anthony Caruso, 40, stands charged with second-degree murder in the death of 67-year-old Elizabeth Caruso, jail records show. He is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with no bond.
The case began midday on July 19, when Elizabeth Caruso flew from New Jersey to Miami Beach to conduct a welfare check on her son. In video released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, the woman can be seen speaking to a clerk in the lobby of a hotel located directly across the street from where her son lived.
Hours later, she would be found dead, with her neck “severely injured nearly to the point of decapitation,” per an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. Anthony Caruso was caught on surveillance footage at about 7 p.m. that evening in the hallway at Blackstone Apartments, waiting for the elevator.
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Elizabeth Caruso’s son-in-law had contacted authorities after being “concerned because he had not heard from the victim for over 6 hours,” the court document states. Police were called to the building, located at 800 Washington Ave., after a trash chute was found open and smeared blood was seen all across the trash room.
When officers got to Anthony Caruso’s apartment — about two hours after the son was seen in the hallway — they noticed “blood on the front door.” They also identified “blood smeared on the hallway floor” from his residence to the trash room, which was located “directly across” from his apartment, police said.
Law enforcement officials went to the first floor to where the trash chute led. When they gained entry to the dumpster there, they reportedly made a grisly discovery.
Elizabeth Caruso was dead “inside the dumpster,” according to the affidavit. The medical examiner processed her body, and in addition to discovering her neck injuries, reported that she had “sustained several bone fractures to the arms, hands, face, and head.”
Police tried to “make contact” at the suspect’s apartment, but “no one came to the door.” A SWAT and hostage team was subsequently sent to the building, police said. Anthony Caruso was inside.
Officers tried to get the suspect to surrender, but “to no avail,” requiring them to release a K9, which apprehended Anthony Caruso. The suspect sustained “injuries to his right arm” during his detention, and he was treated at a nearby hospital before being jailed, according to police. Anthony Caruso reportedly did not provide a statement to authorities.
Christopher Bess, Miami Beach Police Department public information officer, said the suspect was believed to have suffered from a mental illness, per local independent station WPLG. It is unclear if authorities suspect a specific motive for the killing.
Anthony Caruso was reportedly on probation at the time of Elizabeth Caruso’s death, as he was arrested last year on charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, battery, and arson.
He is expected in Miami-Dade County court for a hearing on Nov. 20.
