MILLBROOK, AL (WSFA) -
An Elmore County man, who is accused of murdering his mother in 2014, entered a not guilty plea in court on Thursday.
According to the autopsy, Anita Washington, 49, died from a single gunshot wound to the head in August 2014. The original warrant said the suspect's hands were used as a weapon.
Washington's son, 27-year-old Sedric Clayton, was charged with murder in connection to Washington's death.
In Clayton's initial court appearance in 2014, he looked subdued and was mostly quiet. He did say that no one has told him anything about what's going on. The court set Clayton's bond at $250,000.
Washington's body was
found in a wooded area on Saturday. Millbrook authorities were called to the scene of a body discovery in a wooded area near Lakeshore Drive and Caroline Drive. A farmer searching for a missing cow came upon the body wrapped in a sheet.
"Today is bittersweet for Ms. Washington's family, friends, neighbors, and the men and women of the Millbrook Police Department," said Millbrook Police Chief P.K. Johnson. "On one hand, we can say that the individual responsible for her death is incarcerated in the Elmore County Jail. We can say that Ms. Washington has been found and that she can be put to rest properly and with respect, allowing her family an opportunity to grieve their loss and say goodbye to their loved one. But that means that Ms. Washington is no longer with us. There is no chance that she's coming home to her family, at least not the way we would have hoped for."
Washington was reported missing by family members on Aug. 20. They said she was last seen by family members on Aug. 19 at 2:30 p.m.
Clayton was later arrested at a relative's home in Montgomery based on evidence gathered before Washington's body was even found.
"In speaking with our detectives, there were numerous indicators that this young man was not acting as a normal individual would under the circumstances," Johnson said, following Clayton's arrest. "We knew, based on information received from the family, that he (Clayton) was the last person to see Ms. Washington Tuesday afternoon."
"As our investigation continued, our investigators learned that the relationship between mother and son had become contemptuous over the last week prior to her being reported missing," Chief Johnson said. "As we continued to receive information that this relationship had become strained Clayton became a person of interest."
Washington was the
victim of an attempted-murder by her ex-husband in 2008. That man, 50-year-old Irilmoskomazzerella Washington, is currently serving 20 years in prison.
so he killed her just cause they wasn't getting along