WARREN, Mich. – A 23-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder after his 68-year-old grandmother's body was found dumped in a recycling bin inside her own garage in Warren, Mich.
Damon Austin Barstad was arrested at a Days Inn hotel in Toledo, Ohio, early Thursday morning, just hours before his grandmother's body was found inside the detached garage at her home on Masch Avenue in Warren.
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- UPDATE: Barstad was to be extradited to Michigan but he was shot and killed by police in Toledo. Police said he tried to grab an officer's gun at the Toledo Police Department and was shot and killed by officers.
Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said the woman's son, who is Barstad's father, called police on Wednesday because he was concerned about his mother. He had not seen or spoken to her since Saturday. Officers went to do a welfare check at the home and found her body in the recycling bin in the garage. It was clear she had suffered stab wounds, Dwyer said, although an officials cause of death was still pending. Officers also found two knives inside the bin with the woman's body.
Police believe the woman had been dead since Saturday.
The woman's sport utility vehicle was found at mall parking lot in Toledo with its tires flattened.
Police said the suspect had been living with his grandmother for a short period. The police commissioner said there never were any reported problems at the home and no calls to 911.
"This is an extremely brutal murder," Dwyer said.
Right now, there is no clear motive for the murder.