Sean Rivera, 28, is charged with criminal homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault and a slew of other offenses for the death of his mother, Carol Clark.
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Rivera lived with Clark in the 500 block of Berwyn Road in the Morrisville section of Falls Township.
According to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, the investigation began with a reported domestic dispute between two brothers over the whereabouts of their mother.
Detectives say Rivera had called his brother in New York on Sunday morning to tell him their mother had died.
When his brother arrived, Rivera would not tell him where she was, investigators say.
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Falls Township police were contacted, and they put out a missing person alert for Clark.
Investigators swarmed the home and interviewed Rivera.
"I saw him get into a detective's SUV with two cops, and after that more cops flooded the street, towed their car," said Nelson Colon of Morrisville. "You could see flashlights going around in the house and stuff like that."
The D.A.'s office said detectives eventually concluded that Rivera diluted fentanyl in his mother's iced tea on Saturday night. She was left in a "conscious but lethargic" state, investigators say.
Rivera then allegedly placed her in her vehicle and drove her to a shed outside a behavioral center in the 4300 block of Waln Street in the city's Frankford section between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday.
Once there, investigators say Rivera used bolt cutters to cut off padlocks, placed his mother inside, then shot her multiple times.
"There was like four to six gunshots went off," said Frankford resident Fernando Garcia.
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Rivera then closed the shed and locked it with a padlock he purchased, authorities say.
Detectives obtained search warrants for the home and vehicle. They allegedly found two guns, a Home Depot receipt, a padlock and an empty padlock package.
A set of bolt cutters was also found inside the vehicle.
Clark's body was found in the shed around 1 a.m. Monday.
The shed was opened with a key obtained from Rivera, the D.A.'s office said.
Investigators did not disclose a possible motive for the killing.
Sources indicated to Action News there is a connection between the family and that location on Waln Street in Frankford, though that connection was not immediately clear.