SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – People who know a man accused of beating his elderly mother to death in Balcones Heights Tuesday night are having trouble making sense of what happened.
Police named Michael Curbow, 55, as a suspect in the case shortly after they discovered the body of his mother inside her apartment in the 1100 block of Babcock Road.
They said she died after being beaten.
Man arrested after allegedly beating his 76-year-old mother to death
By late Wednesday night, they had tracked down Curbow at a Monticello Park home in the 400 block of Donaldson Avenue.
Neighbors say he often did handyman work there.
“I knew it was going down when I heard the police helicopters going over and stuff, so I came out and checked it out,” said Gerard Trevino, who lives nearby. “I was praying that there wasn't going to be a standoff, and Michael came out.”
Trevino says he has known Curbow and his mother for about 25 years and still can’t believe what happened.
“The Michael Curbow I know, that is not him at all,” he said. “It’s a horrible, horrible tragedy. I still think it's a dream.”
Trevino says Curbow loved his mother and couldn’t have been in his right mind at the time.
Grisly details emerge in slaying of 76-year-old woman in apartment
Another neighbor who spoke to KSAT 12 News off-camera described Curbow as a nice guy, although he said he occasionally showed signs of having a bad temper.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, police were called to the Balcones Heights apartment shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday.
It says a friend told officers he had received a call from Curbow, saying that he thought his mother was dead.
At the scene Tuesday night, Balcones Heights Police Chief John Jahanara told reporters that Curbow and his mother had argued earlier in the evening.
He said the 76-year-old woman called 911 at that time, asking police to kick her son out of her home.
By the time officers arrived, though, Curbow was gone.
A few hours later, his mother was dead.
The affidavit says police found her in a pool of blood on the floor, and that she had been beaten in her face and head.
Curbow was booked into the Bexar County jail late Wednesday on a charge of murder.