Son put fentanyl in 72-year-old mom’s iced tea and shot her dead in shed, PA cops say

A 72-year-old woman was found dead inside a locked shed in Philadelphia after her son drugged and shot her, Pennsylvania authorities say.

Sean Rivera, 28, was charged Monday, April 10, in the death of his mother, Carol Clark, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office. Rivera’s charges include criminal homicide and kidnapping to inflict terror or injury.

The investigation began Sunday when Rivera told his brother their mother had died, but he would not say where she was, prosecutors said. The Falls Township Police Department alerted the public to help locate Clark.

Detectives searched the home where Rivera and Clark lived, and they found guns, a padlock and padlock packaging, authorities said. Bolt cutters were also found in Clark’s vehicle.

“The investigation concluded that Rivera diluted fentanyl in his mother’s iced tea sometime Saturday night,” the district attorney said. “With his mother in a conscious but lethargic state, he placed her in her vehicle and drove her to the shed in ... Philadelphia sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. Sunday.”

Rivera cut padlocks off the shed using bolt cutters and placed his mother inside, prosecutors said. He shot her multiple times and locked her in the shed, according to the district attorney.

“There was like four to six gunshots went off,” nearby resident Fernando Garcia told WPVI.

Clark’s body was found in the shed Monday morning, police said. A motive for the killing is unclear.

The district attorney charged Rivera on Monday with criminal homicide, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, kidnapping to inflict terror or injury, aggravated assault, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of an instrument of crime, possession of a weapon, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint and recklessly endangering another person.

WCAU reported Clark formerly ran an after-school program for children.

“It’s hard to believe. It’s quite a shock to all of us,” Amanda Slocum told WCAU. “She’s always looked out for the community with the kids and we always looked to her as someone we could go to and talk to when we were growing up.”

Falls Township is about 30 miles northeast of Center City Philadelphia.

This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 9:27 AM with the headline "Son put fentanyl in 72-year-old mom’s iced tea and shot her dead in shed, PA cops say."