Jonathan Crowell Thompson, whom police say shot his mother,44-year-old Cassandra Mitchell, killed himself inside a friend'shouse on Brentwood Road as police waited outside with a warrant for hisarrest.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, police said they had been in touch with Thompsonand that he seemed to be very agitated. Later, he told police hewould surrender, and his last words to them were "I'm coming out."Instead, police said, a shot was heard moments later and his bodywas found in a bedroom. Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene afterthe 8:15 p.m. shooting.
Mitchell's body had been found Tuesday, after officials obtained asearch warrant for her home in the Lake Park subdivision in North Raleigh,near Shelley Lake.
According to the search warrant, Mrs. Mitchell had asked that her sonbe charged with credit card fraud. It is thought she was murdered shortlyafter Thompson was arrested March 3 in regard to the credit card use. Hehad posted bond at 1:41 a.m. the next day and had been released.
Mitchell had been reported missing by her brother-in-law on Saturday;her car was found abandoned Sunday at North Hills Mall. Her body wasfound in her home two days later. It is unclear why her body was notdiscovered until three days after she was reported missing.
Mitchell was a graduate student in education at N.C.State University. She was last seen alive March 3.
She was planning to rejoin her second husband, James Mitchell, in anew home in California. He was already living and working in Santa Rosa,and her other son from her first marriage, 16-year-old Russell Thompson,was living with Mitchell on the West Coast. She would have movedwest after finishing the course work for her doctorate.
Mitchell's friends said she planned to counsel families of childrenwith disabilities, and that she had also done extensive AIDS hotline work.
Jonathan Thompson was a Sanderson High School dropout, who had beencharged with various crimes in the past, including robbery, drugs andbreaking and entering.
One neighbor told WRAL-TV5 reporter Mark Roberts that Jonathan Thompsonhad once broken into her house. Other neighbors, including Jim Meyer,said there was no outward evidence of trouble in the family.
Her widower and younger son have joined her mother, who lives inRaleigh. Her first husband lives in South Carolina.
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
