BELMONT, N.C., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man killed his elderly mother and the family cat and then took his own life.
Larry Dean Hinson, 60, left a note saying he could no longer cope with caring for his mother, Betty Steverson Hinson, 78, The Charlotte Observer reported. Mother and son lived in Belmont, a few miles west of Charlotte.
Investigators believe Hinson killed his mother Friday night and committed suicide the next day, Belmont Police Chief David James said. The bodies were found Monday by a friend.
The bodies of both mother and son were in their beds, while the cat was found in a bathroom. All three were killed by gunshot.
Betty Hinson grew up in Eagle Mill village in Belmont, the neighborhood around a factory that closed in 1990. She spent six years writing "From This Red Clay Hillside: The Eagle 1924-1950, Stories from a North Carolina Cotton Mill," which was published in 1997.
