WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A woman upset that her ex-boyfriend cheated on her has been arrested for fatally stabbing his mother and wounding his 6-year-old son, authorities said.
Rhonda Norman, 34, was charged Wednesday with murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery. John Tackaberry returned home from a date about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday to find the body of his mother, Jane Tackaberry, 53, and his son, Elijah, cut in the throat, police said.
Norman allegedly got help with the attacks from a man she met at a gas station when he offered to sell her drugs, police Lt. Pat Maney said. Wes McGee, 21, agreed to help in exchange for an undisclosed amount of money, police said.
Norman and McGee knocked on the door at the Tackaberry's home between midnight and 2 a.m., police said. When Jane Tackaberry answered, McGee pushed his way inside and punched the woman, knocking her unconscious. Norman than went to the kitchen and retrieved a knife used to slash Tackaberry's throat, according to authorities.
The two realized Elijah was in his bedroom and brought him to the dining room where they slashed his vocal cords and stabbed him in the chest, police said. Elijah was able to climb back to his bed where his father found him.
"He was afraid and in shock. He went to the one place he felt safe - in his bed," Maney said.
The boy was recovering at a hospital and was expected to survive.
Investigators say Norman told them she would have killed her ex-boyfriend if he was home, but she was satisfied hurting the people he cared about most.
McGee faces the same charges as Norman. Both were being held at Palm Beach County jail with no bail. It was not immediately known if they had attorneys
