From Tribune staff reports
MENTONE –A UAB biology student has been charged with murder after confessing to beating his mother to death after the two argued over his grades, according to multiple media sources.
Tyler Blansit, 22, was arrested early Saturday morning for the murder of his mother, Sherry Ann Blansit, 45, of Mentone. Blansit had been found beaten to death behind her home on Scenic Highway in Mentone on Friday.
“Tyler says that he struck Sherry in the head and it appears that her death was caused from blunt force trauma to the head area,” DeKalb County sheriff Jimmy Harris said in a statement. “She was transported to Department of Forensics Science in Huntsville for an autopsy.”
“Usually we’ll have calls where a parent has whipped a child because of grades, a child has run away because of bad grades, but we’ve never had anything like this happen,” Harris told WSFA on Saturday.
“It’s just one of those things you can’t explain; we’ll never be able to explain what went through his mind, why he snapped and did this,” Harris said.
Tyler called 911 on Friday and reported that he and his mother had been attacked. Law enforcement found Sherry dead of blunt force trauma and noticed scratches and a knot on Tyler’s head when they went to investigate.
After questioning Tyler extensively, police said he admitted that he had beaten his mother to death. The district attorney ordered him arrested, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
Tyler Blansit is currently in the DeKalb County Jail. Bond has not yet been set.