Son charged with beating 84-year-old mom

CASEYVILLE -- A 63-year-old Caseyville man faces attempted murder charges after he allegedly held a knife to his 84-year-old mother's throat then beat her so severely she required hospitalization.

Paul E. Richards is charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated domestic battery and is being held in the St. Clair County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Police say a home health care worker discovered the woman beaten and bloody in the bedroom of her home on Monday morning.

Richards was was arrested later Monday after neighbors reported he was nearby.

The mother, whose name was withheld, was taken to a St. Louis hospital for treatment, and her condition has not been released.