GULF BREEZE — A woman was found stabbed and beaten to death in her home on Christmas Eve and her 17-year-old son has been charged with the crime.
William Brandon Aydelott was arrested Tuesday night and charged with premeditated murder in the death of his mother, Sharon Aydelott, a teacher at Holley-Navarre Middle School.
“This is a sad day for that family,” said Tim Wyrosdick, superintendent of Santa Rosa County schools.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office was called to Sharon Aydelott’s home at 1119 Crane Cove Blvd. about 6 p.m. Tuesday after someone stopped by and discovered her.
When investigators arrived, they found an open front door smeared with what appeared to be blood.
Just inside, her body was lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
She had a large kitchen knife sticking out of her eye socket and had been stabbed and cut multiple times, including a deep slash across her throat, the Sheriff’s Office reported. She also had been beaten with a baseball bat.
After the crime, her son reportedly fled the scene.
He was found about three hours later at a nearby residence where he had been staying since he began arguing with his mother in September, according to his arrest report.
He came in for questioning without resistance. His clothes were clean, but a bit of dried blood remained on his wrist.
During questioning Aydelott was calm and appeared emotionless — other than giving a few small smiles — as he confessed to the murder, the report said.
He was being held Wednesday in the Santa Rosa County Jail with no bond set.
Sharon Aydelott taught science to sixth and seventh graders at Holley-Navarre Middle School. She had been teaching there since 1998.
Wyrosdick said a crisis support system was already being set up in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“This is our highest priority,” he said.