A young woman bludgeoned her mother to death with a hammer in their Bronx home because she believed the mom was possessed by demons, police sources told The Post.
Charlene Novoa, 26, was taken into custody at 2 a.m. Saturday, police said.
She’s now charged with murder in what the NYPD said was a suspicious death.
The victim, Silma Garcia, 66, was found under her bed in her Bronx apartment building on Friday night, police said.
Cops who responded to the victim’s home found a filthy apartment littered with trash, sources said.
When detectives spoke to Novoa they noticed scratches on her hands and face, which she claimed were self-inflicted, the sources said.
Novoa told cops she hit her mom with something heavy, at which point cops took her into custody, the sources added.
It was the victim’s son, Marcos — who also lives in the apartment — who said Charlene told him she struck her mom with a hammer because she was possessed by demons, the sources said.
A preliminary investigation determined Garcia sustained head and body trauma, the sources said.
Stunned neighbors on Saturday were aware that Novoa had been charged with killing her mom — but not how.
One of Garcia’s upstairs neighbors tried phoning her when she saw the crime scene. Judy Santiago, 66, said she would see Silma Garcia on Tuesdays and have lunch with her.
She was shocked to hear one of Garcia’s children allegedly killed her.
“The son was really sick and nervous,” Santiago said. “The daughter was always very quiet.”
Another neighbor, Angela, who would not provide her last name, said her mother and Garcia were good friends.
“She used to come over all the time. They’d hangout and she’d help my mom clean the closets and declutter,” Angela said. “My mom would always let her know when we had extra food for her.”
Angela and her mother had been calling Garcia for the past two days, trying to get her food and see if she would join her mother for a gospel service at nearby Yankee Stadium.
“We didn’t think nothing of it until this morning when we saw the crime scene,” Angela said. “If it was a stranger that killed her, that’s one thing, but her own kid, that’s crazy. Charlene was always quiet and didn’t go out, just stayed inside and played video games.”
Novoa’s arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending Saturday.