A psycho Massachusetts teen accused of fatally stabbing a sleeping ICU nurse after breaking into her home allegedly told cops he carried out the random attack because he had long wanted to “kill someone.
Anthony DeMayo, 18, was arrested after busting through the window of a Danvers home – about 25 miles north of Boston – Wednesday and allegedly knifing 68-year-old Janet Swallow in the neck while she slept in her bedroom, according to the Essex County District Attorney and multiple reports.
The deranged teen, a senior at Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, chillingly told police that on the night of the killing, he drove around nearby communities before stopping at the victim’s home, breaking in, and carrying out the cold-blooded slaying, court documents obtained by Boston.com showed.
He allegedly admitted that “he had been planning on committing this act for a long time, and wanted to kill someone for a long time.”
Afterward, he drove 10 miles back to his Lynn home but returned to the victim’s neighborhood the next day, where he was seen erratically waving a large knife, leading terrified neighbors to call the police.
“It was like a 6-inch blade, and he was just swinging his arm around, and then he just started stabbing all the bushes,” one frantic resident told 911 dispatchers, WCVB reported.
“And it looked like he was pretending the bushes were a person. It was like he was practicing. It was the most bizarre thing I ever seen.”
When police arrived, he allegedly told them he had killed a woman the night before, prosecutors said.
Officers then searched the teen’s home, reportedly finding bloodstained clothing and recovering cell phone data that prompted a welfare check at the victim’s home, where she was discovered in her bedroom with multiple stab wounds.
Officials said the two were not known to each other and believe the attack was completely random.
Authorities also found no evidence of a robbery and said the Catholic school student acted alone.
“This is not only a tragedy for the town, for the school,” District Attorney Paul Tucker said, Boston.com reported.
“This is just a very difficult case because of the randomness of this violence.”
The victim, a mother of two sons, was an ICU nurse at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, NBC 10 Boston reported.
She was described by colleagues as a beloved and valued employee who will be “greatly missed.”
“We share our deepest condolences with her family and loved ones and her colleagues in the Nursing Department and across our hospital,” chief nursing officer Scott James said in a statement Friday.
“Our thoughts are with them during this very difficult time.”
The alleged killer’s private Roman Catholic school is working with police and offering counseling to students, the outlet reported.
DeMayo pleaded not guilty to murder and home invasion charges at his Friday arraignment.
He was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation and is being held without bail at Bridgewater State Hospital.
He is due back for a probable cause hearing in court on April 1.
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