A 40-year-old Florida man has been charged with the murder of his retired schoolteacher mother, whose body was found in a Miami Beach trash chute on Saturday.

Police conducted a welfare check at the apartment after Elizabeth “Betty” Caruso’s son-in-law said he hadn’t heard from her in several hours, WTVJ reported. They found blood smeared on the apartment door and floors in front of the apartment, leading to the trash room.

“We did discover a female victim inside of a waste container,” Miami Beach Police spokesman Christopher Bess said. “When our officers tried to make contact with the subject, he barricaded himself.”

The subject was Caruso’s son, Anthony Caruso.

Detective Brian Gonzalez told WTVJ that police believe Caruso killed his mother, possibly with a knife, then stuffed her body into the trash chute before barricading himself in the apartment for several hours, prompting police to evacuate the apartment building.

“A blanket in the bathroom that had blood on it. Appeared to have been torn,” Gonzalez said. “We found a piece of that blanket in the dumpster where the victim was found. We also found a piece of that blanket outside on the sidewalk.”

Police have not yet released a cause of death, but a police report said the victim had severe injuries to her neck and was nearly decapitated. She also had multiple bone fractures to the arms, hands, face, and head.

Police said Betty Caruso was visiting from New Jersey to check on her son.

The New Milford School District in New Jersey said she taught in the district for 25 years before retiring in 2021. The was a preschool special education teacher who left “behind a legacy of respect from colleagues and adoration from the countless students and families she served,” the district said.

Caruso was charged with second degree murder and ordered held without bond.