A man accused of killing his mother and setting her body on fire in the front yard of her Truro home on Friday night has died in an apparent suicide, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said late Sunday.
Adam Howe, 34, was being held at Ash Street Jail in New Bedford, O’Keefe said. His death is under investigation by State Police detectives, O’Keefe said.
The Bristol County sheriff’s office said Howe suffered a “medical emergency” in his cell. Howe was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, where he died, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Sunday. His cause of death had not yet been determined, the office said.
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“That family has been through a lot this weekend; please keep them in your prayers,” the sheriff’s office said.
Howe was arrested Friday after a SWAT team was called to the home of his mother, 69-year-old Susan Howe. He was taken to Cape Cod Hospital to be treated for a medical issue and was discharged back into police custody at 6 a.m. Saturday, O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe said his office tried to have Howe placed at Bridgewater State Hospital for a mental health evaluation but was unable to.
“This is a tragic end result of actions this individual set in motion on [Friday night], and we did everything we could the night that he was at Cape Cod Hospital to get him into a facility, and we were unable to do that,” O’Keefe said.
He added: “Ultimately he was taken from [Cape Cod Hospital] to the barracks and State Police made arrangements to have him brought to Ash Street Jail, and that’s where he ultimately did what he’s alleged to have done.”
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com. Follow him @NickStoico.