A Mississippi man was arrested late last month, acused of beating his mother to death with a shovel and stabbing her around the head and neck.

Tupelo Police said they were called to conduct a welfare check on the home on April 29, and Joshua Daniel Lazore, 30, directed officers to the backyard when they asked for the whereabouts of his mother. That’s where they found 62-year-old Sherri West Lazore dead.

Lazore was taken into custody and reportedly agreed to  waive his right to remain silent, confessing to the assault that killed his mother, the Tupelo Daily Journal reported.

At an initial court appearance, Lazore told the judge he wanted “to waive my right to an attorney and get the plea section.”

The judge stopped him, saying the initial appearance was only to determine that a crime had been commeitted and to decide on any bond.

After a brief break while Lazore spoke with his court appointed attorney, the judge denied bond, saying he represented a danger to the community.

Lazore had previously trashed the lobby of the Lee County Jail in 2020 and was charged with destroying public property and malicious mischief. At the time, he was a resident of “a residential Christian discipleship program for men with self-destructive lifestyles,” who was allowed to leave the facility for work.

He left work one night and went to the jail, telling deputies he wanted to turn himself in, but the deputies found no warrants for his arrest. He left and then returned a few hours later, again saying he wanted to turn himself in. The deputies asked him leave, and he did, but he came back after they went into a secure area of the jail and began throwing equipment and destroying televisions and a touch-screen kiosk in the lobby.

Then he was arrested. But a year later, he pleaded guilty to destruction of public property and got a five year suspended sentence and 5 years probation. His probation was terminated a few months later because he had paid fines and court costs and abided by the rules.

The murder case will now be presented to a Lee County grand jury, Tupelo Police said.