MEMPHIS, Tenn. — UPDATE 7/2/2021 - (Shelby County District Attorney General News Release) - A southwest Memphis woman has been indicted in the stabbing death last year of her elderly disabled mother, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
Defendant Crystal Branch, 53, was an indicted on one count of first-degree murder. She is being held on $250,000 bond.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of Oct. 14, 2020, in a residence in the 4600 block of Cimarron Drive near Weaver Road and West Shelby Drive. A relative said she heard 73-year-old Callie Branch screaming for help and saw the defendant on top of the victim stabbing her repeatedly.
The victim, who was partially paralyzed from a stroke, had multiple stab wounds to her hand, torso, neck and ears. She was taken to Regional One Health where died of her injuries three days later.
Crystal Branch told police she stabbed her mother because she was going to call police and tell them the defendant would not take her medicine.
The case is being handled by Chief Prosecutor Stephanie Johnson of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 2 which handles cases in General Sessions Division 9 and in Criminal Court Division 2.
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10/29/2020 - A Memphis woman is behind bars, accused of killing her 73-year-old mother after she said God told her to “murder.”
53-year-old Crystal Branch is charged with first-degree murder, domestic assault, and aggravated assault in the death of her mother Callie Branch.
It all happened just before 1:30 p.m. on October 14, 2020 in the 4600 block of Cimmaron Drive, just north of W Shelby Drive.
According to the police affidavit, a family member said Crystal Branch had been acting strange earlier in the day, and that Branch had asked if the witness “would do things if God told her to do them even if they were bad things.” When asked what God was telling her to do, the witness said Branch answered, “murder.”
The witness said they went to their room, and about 30 minutes later heard the victim screaming. The witness went to check, and said they found Branch on top of her mother Callie, stabbing her. They said they tried to stop Branch, and called police when they couldn’t. They said Branch then ran and hid the knife under a mattress and came back and sat in the den.
Police said when they arrived, no one answered the door. According to the affidavit, they went inside, and found blood on the carpet near the front door, and Branch sitting in the den smoking a cigarette. The officers found Branch’s mother stabbed several times in the neck, ears, hands, and body. Callie Branch was rushed to Regional One in critical condition. She died three days later from her injuries.
The officers said when they took Crystal Branch into custody, she told them “I stabbed her because she threatened to call the police on me for not taking my medicine.”
Crystal Branch is in jail on $50,000 bond.
