SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police conducted a welfare check at a northwest-side apartment complex when they found an elderly man dead and his wife seriously injured after their son allegedly beat them with a bowl.
Police on the scene said the individuals didn't answer the door or their cell phones when Home Health Care came to check on them. They were able to enter the unit with help from maintenance.
When they got inside the apartment, police said, officers found an 85-year-old man dead in the hallway and his 74-year-old wife severely beaten with head trauma, fractures and a bloody face. They said the wife had locked herself in a room after being attacked.
As police were checking the apartment, they found the couple's 45-year-old son, James Barber, playing video games in one of the rooms and handcuffed him. Police said he appears to have mental health issues.
A member of Barber's extended family told KENS 5 Saturday the man did have a history with serious mental illness and had been divorced since 2018. The person said Barber only recently moved back with his parents.
The wife was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Before she left the scene, SAPD said, she told officers Barber had beaten them with a ceramic bowl and killed his father Thursday night, nearly 20 hours after police discovered them.
Barber remains jailed on murder and aggravated assault charges, his bonds totaling $400,000.
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