Grandson admitted to beating his grandmother to death with a hammer and then stole her car, cops say

A Tennessee man has admitted to beating his grandmother to death with a hammer after he was found in her stolen car, cops say.

Kerrien Dates, a 23-year-old from Memphis, was arrested last Thursday in Jackson, more than an hour’s drive northeast of his hometown, in connection to the death of his grandmother Sonya Date, 58, according to local reports citing authorities.

The day before Dates’ arrest, his mother called the police to report she found her mother at her Memphis home bleeding and lying next to a hammer covered in blood, police say, according to The Charlotte Observer.

The grandmother “had her backpack on along with her lunch bag as if she just came into the house from work,” authorities wrote in an affidavit.

Police said the grandmother had four wounds on the back of her head caused by blunt force trauma.

The grandmother’s 2020 Chevrolet Camaro was missing, WREG reported, citing police.

Jackson Police said officers found the missing car being driven by Dates and when asked why he was being pulled over he said, “I hit Sonya in the head with a hammer and I think I killed her.”

Dates has been charged with first-degree murder and property theft.

Dates’ mother told police that he had been living with his grandmother, and the two of them had recently been fighting, The Charlotte Observer reported, citing the affidavit.

She said she told her mother to kick her son “out of her house for safety,” police said.

The grandmother’s next-door neighbor, Tracey Holloman, told KPLC that she could tell something was not right earlier that week.

“I thought it was strange he was going in and out of the house and it is sad to see she is gone,” Holloman said. “She was a good person she didn’t bother anybody she did not deserve it. I am praying for the family.”