By Marlene LenthangNBC
News
A former New York police officer was charged Thursday with the murder of his mother, who was found last year practically decapitated in her home in the Queens neighborhood.
Osvaldo Diaz, 46, "allegedly stabbed and slashed" his mother, Maria Diaz, 78, with a machete on Feb. 24, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a news release.
“The defendant allegedly attacked his mother with a machete,
to the point of nearly decapitating
her ,” Katz said.
"This outbreak of violence has devastated the victim's family, which includes her six other children," he said.
Diaz was employed by the New York Police Department from 2005 until 2008, when he was fired, the department said.
The former police officer and his mother
lived together in an apartment
above a beauty salon, according to the statement.
On the day of the murder, Diaz's sister came home for a visit, as she and her mother had planned to run some errands and go for a walk.
When he arrived and called his mother on the phone, no one answered.
"Eventually, the defendant answered and allegedly told his sister to go to a store," the statement said.
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As the sister left the building, the defendant was recorded on security video leaving the apartment, authorities said.
The sister returned later and finally called the property owner, who let her into the apartment.
There they found
her mother's body "bleeding and wrapped in bedding,"
according to the statement.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have not reported a possible motive for the crime.
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The prosecutor's office said Diaz was on the run for just over a week before he
was captured in New Jersey
and extradited to Queens on Wednesday to face charges.
He was charged with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to the news release.
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His attorney, Jose Nieves, said Diaz
pleaded not guilty
Thursday.
"I asked the court to order a psychiatric evaluation immediately because I am seriously concerned that Diaz is in a suitable state to participate in this criminal process," he said.
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Diaz is due back in court on February 17.
If convicted,
he faces 25 years to life in prison
.
