A psychological evaluation is being sought for a man accused of murdering his mother.
Derek Vaughn, 51, is facing a charge of homicide in connection with the brutal killing of his mother, 77-year-old Jerrylea Vaughn at the family home in Wildwood.
The public defender’s office, which has been assigned the task of representing Vaughn, this past week officially filed a motion in Sumter County Court seeking a court-appointed psychological evaluation for Vaughn. He continues to be held without bond in the Sumter County Detention Center.
The death of Jerrylea Vaughn shocked the Wildwood community.
The retired schoolteacher was pleading for help when she called 911 the night of April 6.
“Help me, help me, my son just stabbed me, he is coming to kill me,” she told a dispatcher, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The dispatcher could hear Jerrylea Vaughn screaming.
Law enforcement raced to the home at 4522 County Road 116.
Derek Vaughn was immediately taken into custody. He said that God told him to get his father’s gun and shoot his mother in the head. So he did.
She was rushed to UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital in The Villages, where she was pronounced dead.
The home where his mother was killed was the home where Derek Vaughn, born in 1974, grew up. His father, who died in 2016, spent his career with CSX Railroad.
Vaughn’s wife is seeking a divorce.