20-Year-Old Man Arrested In Texas For Killing His Nigerian Mother

Police in Texas arrested a 20-year-old man Eyitoluwa Olayeye, on Wednesday for murdering his mother in a downtown Austin hotel.

48-year-old Kehinde Olayeye, was found by Police face down on the floor with her son lying on her back with his arms wrapped around her body.

On Oct. 6, at 4:44 a.m. police were sent to the scene of a disturbance at a Holiday Inn located in downtown Austin at 805 Neches Street. The call transcript said Austin-Travis County EMS was already on their way to the scene for a report of someone screaming in their room. Later updates to the call said the sounds of a fight were also coming from the room.

According to the arrest affidavit, once at the scene officers knocked on the door of the room the sounds were coming from. After several knocks and no response, they had the hotel’s security officer use a key card to open the door. The door’s latch was engaged, prompting officers to force entry.

Police say once they made their way into the room they found a woman face down on the floor with a man lying on her back with his arms wrapped around her body. The woman was unresponsive and ATCEMS performed CPR but she was declared dead at the scene. Police say as he was detained the suspect appeared to be singing in a different language.

The suspect was identified as 20-year-old Eyitoluwa Olayeye and the victim was identified as his mother.

A Travis County medical examiner conducted a post mortem examination on Olayeye’s mother. She said the victim suffered deep skull hemorrhaging, hemorrhaging around the neck, lacerations to the inner mouth, petechial hemorrhaging and signs of strangulation.

A witness staying at the hotel told police he heard a woman running through the hallways screaming around 4:15 a.m. he said she was banging on doors screaming “Let me in,” before he heard her being dragged back past his room.

The victim’s sister told police the two of them had flown to Austin from Georgia to visit Olayeye. She said the day before they received a call from Olayeye rambling and saying “I pray that God brings us together.” She also said Olayeye’s friends got on the phone saying he was telling them he found his purpose in life.

The victim’s sister said they received another call from Olayeye’s friends saying he had been taken to the hospital by ATCEMS for a psych evaluation. She said at this point the two decided to fly to Austin to check on Olayeye. At the airport, they received a call from doctors at Dell Seton Medical Center asking if their family had a history of mental illness, which she said they do not.

Olayeye’s friends called his mother and aunt again to tell them he had been discharged from the hospital. They brought Olayeye to their apartment where they say he began telling them he wanted to leave school.

Olayeye’s aunt said when they arrived at the apartment her nephew seemed happy to see them. She said they stayed there for a while before the three of them decided to check into a hotel downtown. She said Olayeye and his mother got a room together and she got one by herself. She told police the three of them were hanging out together in Olayeye’s room before she decided to go to sleep.

Olayeye’s aunt said he told them God had given him a purpose. He said the hospital was trying to hold him for a mental issue but he told them what they wanted to hear so he could leave.

The hotel security guard told investigators he was doing his rounds when, at about 4:15 a.m., he heard loud shouting coming from a room. He said when he banged on the door telling the occupants to quiet down he got no response but began to also hear sounds of a struggle.

In an interview with police, Olayeye said after class on Tuesday he went to the University of Texas tower to pray. He said he remembers praying but the next thing he knew he was in an ambulance headed to the hospital. He said doctors asked him if he was diagnosed as bipolar or manic which he told them no.

Olayeye said after being discharged from the hospital he was taken to a friend’s apartment. There he said his mother and aunt arrived and took him to a hotel downtown. He corroborated his aunt’s testimony, saying the three of them hung out in his room before his aunt went to sleep. He said after she left he went to the bathroom and got into bed. He told police he remembers his mother standing over him praying, and the next thing he knew he was in the back of a police cruiser.

According to the police affidavit, when told his mother was dead, Olayeye said he must have been the one who killed her since no one else was in the room. He said he did not have a reason to kill his mother.

Olayeye was arrested and charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. He also faces a $1 million bond.