Troy, Ill. man charged with strangling his mother

TROY, Ill. (KMOV) - 44-year-old Neil Howard has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the death of his mother, 60-year-old Norma Caraker, according to court records.

Troy police said Caraker was found unresponsive in her home on Lower Marine Road around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Officers responded to a home in the 600 block of Lower Marine Road for a welfare check. Police say Howard met them at the house, where officers then found Caraker. They tried to resuscitate her but were unsuccessful.

Neighbors told First Alert Four that Howard lived at the home with his mother. Long-time friend, Dawn Mushill, said Howard struggled with drug and alcohol problems for years.

“You know people can say what they want but as a parent you know that you’re just going to try. And she tried. She tried for a very long time. And unfortunately, it ended in this situation,” she said.

Caraker was the second woman killed in Troy in less than two weeks. On September 6, Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas Haine announced that 52-year-old Michael Perham had been charged with twp counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Maha Tiimob.

The cases are not related. Bond for Howard was set at $3 million.

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