Maplewood girl, 17, accused of beating her mom to death

A 17-year-old Twin Cities girl is charged with murdering her mother in a case that police call "tragic and deeply disturbing."

Investigators say the girl beat her 43-year-old mother to death inside their apartment in Maplewood early Saturday morning.

A neighbor told police the two had argued after the mother took away her daughter's phone. Another neighbor said they had talked with the victim multiple times about her daughter's "increasing aggression," according to the criminal complaint. He added that he heard the girl screaming something to the effect of "I'll do it, I'll do it," the evening prior.

Surveillance video allegedly showed the girl leaving the building with a hammer just before 5:30 a.m.

Initially, charges say the girl told investigators she had a normal evening with her mom and that she heard loud screaming and a thud around 3 a.m. that she thought had come from an upstairs apartment. She added that her mother had asked her to put the hammer in the garage and indicated it had been in the home for protection.

She eventually said to police that a thought came into her head to "Get rid of anybody who hurt you in your life or anybody who dared to hurt you," and her mom was the closest, according to charges.

In an interview with investigators, her boyfriend's father said they had routinely talked about trying to emancipate the suspect from her mother so she could live with them. He added that she had issues with her mom and that there had been at least one physical altercation between the two in the past.

Charges say the girl told her boyfriend, in a jail call, "It wasn't just rage, I just couldn't handle it no more."

Prosecutors want to see the girl tried as an adult.

For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.