An Illinois man, Neil Howard, 46, has been convicted of strangling his 60-year-old mother, Norma Caraker, with a bungee cord at their shared home in Troy after becoming enraged over her alleged behavior.
The incident occurred on September 13, 2023, when Caraker returned home from a date. According to Assistant State’s Attorney Luke Yager, a drunk Howard snapped and attacked his mother, strangling her to death. “This defendant had enough of his mother. He’d had enough of her behavior and her refusal to give him money,” Yager told the court.
Howard called the police around 1:30 a.m. that night, claiming he was concerned about his unresponsive mother. Officers found Caraker in bed with the bungee cord still wrapped around her neck. Despite attempts to revive her, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Howard initially told officers he saw an unknown man leaving through a sliding door just before finding his mother. However, investigators found the door locked from the inside, leading to Howard’s arrest.
On February 11, Howard was convicted of first-degree murder and now faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. His defense team plans to appeal, claiming the Troy Police Department conducted a flawed investigation.
The case also revealed Howard’s past involvement in a previous investigation. In 2005, he was questioned in connection with the death of his father, George Howard Jr., in Dallas County, Texas. While arrested at the time, prosecutors failed to secure a grand jury indictment, and Howard was released without trial.
