The elderly woman was discovered in a pool of blood inside a room within a family house
Correspondence from Ashanti Region
A 17-year-old school dropout, Nicholas Agyei, has been arrested by the Bohyen Police in Kumasi for the alleged murder of his 72-year-old grandmother, Joyce Owusu. The tragic incident occurred at Ohwim, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
While the exact weapon used in the crime has yet to be confirmed, it is believed that the suspect used a sharp object, possibly a cutlass, to inflict multiple blows to the victim’s head.
The elderly woman was discovered in a pool of blood inside a room within the family house after an alarm was raised.
In an interview with the media, the suspect’s mother revealed that her son had been struggling with mental health issues in recent months. She stated that he lives with her and his father in Kronum, while the deceased grandmother resided in the family home at Ohwim.
According to her, Agyei often visited his grandmother to request money. She described him as typically calm despite his mental health challenges, and noted that he had never shown violent tendencies prior to this incident.
“We were at home when we received a call that Nicholas had murdered my mother, his grandmother,” she recounted, visibly distressed. “My son has been sick for some time now. I’ve been taking him to several places for treatment. Though he hasn’t fully recovered, he’s always been calm and has never been violent. This came as a complete shock to us.”
Eyewitnesses reported that Agyei allegedly struck his grandmother repeatedly on the head before attempting to move her body from the original scene of the attack. Bloodstains were reportedly found throughout several rooms where the body was transported.
“He locked himself in a room with the dead body after the murder,” one eyewitness claimed. “He tried to clean up many of the bloodstains, but fortunately he failed to cover up the crime.”
Some witnesses also alleged that the suspect is a regular marijuana user and suggested his mental health condition may have been exacerbated by his drug use.
The suspect remains in police custody as investigations continue.
