An Alabama woman told a 911 dispatcher her nephew wasn’t violent. Roughly two hours later, she and his 85-year-old grandmother were discovered decapitated in a grisly double homicide involving a chainsaw.
Christy Deloach, 65, had become worried about 47-year-old Thomas Steele after he stopped taking lithium, began giving away his belongings and declared that he wanted to devote himself entirely to God.
“He’s calm! He’s not violent or anything. So, I guess I’ll just let it play itself out,” Deloach assured the dispatcher during her final known plea for guidance Monday morning.
By early afternoon, police were investigating the deaths of Deloach and Dora Boone inside a residence on Carolina Court in Mobile.
Steele was standing outside the property when officers arrived. The deaths of his aunt and grandmother would become the basis for two murder charges against him.
The nephew’s behavior had already worried Deloach enough to seek assistance. Around 11 a.m., she contacted 911 to describe his decision to abandon possessions and electronics, an exchange documented in records obtained by WALA-TV.
“He gave away his phone … and giving his car away,” she explained, recounting behavior that had left her questioning whether intervention was necessary.
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“He says he’s just going to live for God and not going to have any kind of electronics.”
The dispatcher explored whether Deloach was seeking medical assistance, but she portrayed the problem as one involving Steele’s thinking rather than an immediate physical emergency.
“It’s in his mind. He’s following God,” she answered.
The call ended after Deloach received contact information for the police department. She had not described Steele as threatening anyone, and no immediate intervention was arranged during that conversation.
Another report brought officers to the house approximately two hours later, where the two women had suffered fatal injuries involving a chainsaw.
Questions about Steele’s ability to participate in the criminal proceedings prompted a judge to order a competency examination Tuesday.
The court also refused to grant him bond, leaving Steele in custody as the double-murder case moved forward.
When informed that a public defender would be appointed to represent him, Steele delivered an unsettling response. “No, kill him,” he declared.
For Deloach’s colleagues, the news meant the loss of a familiar presence at the hair salon where she had worked for 15 years.
Salon owner Lenny Zanghi remembered her warmly, describing a friendship that had grown during their years working together.
“She was one of the first employees we had when we took over. And just a real sweet girl. Beautiful person. I considered her a friend,” Zanghi recalled.
He also remembered Deloach discussing her nephew’s bipolar disorder before the killings, adding another detail to the concerns she had expressed shortly before her death.
“I’m just going to miss her and think about her every day,” Zanghi continued.
In South Florida, another woman’s death left relatives discussing a history of psychiatric treatment involving the man accused of killing her.
The victim, 58-year-old Ylda Cabello-Ynocente, was already suffering from multiple stab wounds when Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies reached her Tamarac home shortly before 8 p.m. She was pronounced dead at the residence.
Her 28-year-old son, Manuel Farfan-Cabello, was subsequently taken into custody. A first-degree murder charge followed his arrest later that day.
Accounts gathered from people living nearby suggested the family had experienced disturbances well before the fatal stabbing.
Months earlier, Farfan-Cabello had allegedly shattered windows at the residence. On the afternoon his mother died, another neighbor encountered him asking for a cigarette while apparently carrying blood on his body.
Residents also described him approaching multiple homes seeking money, according to Local 10, while NBC 6 heard from neighbors who remembered previous police activity at the family’s address.
Cabello-Ynocente herself rarely attracted attention. One neighbor remembered seeing her outside and occasionally exchanging friendly greetings from a distance.
The victim’s sister-in-law Rocio traveled from Peru to South Florida after receiving news of the killing. She discussed Farfan-Cabello’s schizophrenia diagnosis and expressed concern that hallucinations had persisted despite treatment.
During his Sunday court appearance, Farfan-Cabello was ordered to undergo a mental health screening and was refused release on bond.
A medical examination uncovered a gunshot killing in another Florida case, despite the severe fire damage to the victim’s body.
In Fort Myers, George Beemer, 23, allegedly killed his mother in July and then set their residence ablaze, prompting charges connected to both the homicide and the treatment of her remains.
An autopsy established that a bullet, rather than the flames, had caused the woman’s death. Investigators treated the case as a homicide after firefighters encountered her badly burned body inside the property.
Beemer had initially summoned help for chest pain and was transported to a hospital. While he was away, a second emergency call alerted responders to the burning house.
An alleged admission of responsibility became part of the investigation when a friend informed police that Beemer had confessed to killing his mother and starting the fire.
A detective later testified about relatives’ recollections of frequent household arguments, including episodes in which Beemer allegedly damaged furniture during angry outbursts.
Beemer offered a disturbing allegation of his own, telling police his mother had molested him and that he could no longer tolerate the alleged abuse.
Someone close to the victim fiercely rejected that account in an interview with WINK-TV.
“There’s absolutely no way,” the friend insisted. “No, no, absolutely never, never, no. I can’t buy it.”
The criminal case includes counts of second-degree murder, first-degree arson and abuse of a dead human body.
The fire also killed one of the two cats discovered at the residence, while the second animal survived.
