Man Accused of Killing Mother Appears in Court

(Memphis) As William Walsh made his first appearance in court, word spread about what police say he had done.

“I couldn`t believe it,” said a young man who wanted to remain anonymous.

The man said he grew up with Walsh, “He was actually a really nice guy.”

He says the only way to explain why Walsh would stab his own mother to death is that he was on drugs, “I know he is into psychedelics.”

Police say Walsh stabbed his mother in her head and face after she confronted him about making too much noise in the house.

That was 1 a.m. Saturday.

The next morning, police say her husband found her dead on the living room sofa and his son William confessed to him saying “He had killed someone”.

“We are heartsick about it,” said Charlotte, a neighbor.

Neighbors in the East Memphis neighborhood say Elaine Walsh was a wonderful person

She worked as an administrator’s assistant at the University of Memphis.

The school’s president released this statement: “The loss of a valued colleague is always hard, but a such a tragic loss is even more difficult to understand.”

 Those sentiments were echoed by her neighbors.

 ”That is just a real tragedy that you have to deal with for the rest of your life,” said Charlotte.

“It still hasn`t set in,” said  Walsh’s friend.

Walsh’s friend fears that William may have been on a hallucinogenic drug known as DMT.

He says that he’s heard that it’s like ‘smoking acid.”

“It just makes you wild. Completely out of your brain,” he said.