TERRYTOWN -- Deputies called to check on an 85-year-old man whose relatives had not heard from him in recent days were greeted at the door of his home by a woman who admitted she stabbed him to death, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto said.
Deputies found the man’s lifeless body inside his house about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the house in the 600 block of National Avenue, Lopinto said.
He declined to identify the victim until authorities could notify his family. The woman was later identified as 46-year-old Krystal Behrens. She was a roommate of the man, according to the sheriff's office.
Behrens will be booked on a count of second-degree murder. He said the woman was being treated for “psychiatric conditions.”
Lopinto said deputies arrived at the home after the victim’s son said he had not heard from his father in recent days.
While the coroner will have to determine how long the victim had been dead before he was found, Lopinto said it appears to have been days. “At least a week or so,” he said.
He added that it appears the victim was stabbed one time.
Lopinto declined to say if the suspect said why she stabbed the victim but that it appeared she stayed with him inside the home since he died.
“This is not common,” Lopinto said. “It’s not a random act that we’re looking for someone that came into someone’s home.”