Christmas Eve killing shocks Walvaroo

A few slices of ham, home made bread, and a cup of hot chocolate tea is how 76-year-old Bertha Collis would have enjoyed her Christmas Morning.{{more}}

Instead, the mother of seven was viciously attacked at her home Christmas Eve night, and died a few hours later.

Now, with her son Carlyle Collis, 45, arrested and charged in connection with the death, Bertha’s eldest child Zilma Collis, of Town Hill, is left in a daze wondering why.

“I still don’t understand why,” Zilma said last Tuesday as she spoke to SEARCHLIGHT.

On the night in question, it is alleged that Carlyle came to his Mother’s Walvarou home and was attempting to break in.

“My mother called me about minutes to ten and said he (Carlyle) was mashing up the house,” Zilma said.

He was reportedly demanding that his mother give him a cutlass that was in the house which he claimed was his and proceeded to break or damage every available window and door, attempting to get into the house.

She said that she called someone who called.

the police, who came to take her to her mother’s assistance.

Police are working on the theory that Carlyle eventually got into the house and attacked his mother, who was seated in her wheelchair.

Zilma said that when she reached to her mother’s house she found her lying on the floor with blood running from her mouth.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she told SEARCHLIGHT, trying to remain strong and fight back the tears.

Zilma said that when she went to her mother’s side, her mother said that Carlyle cuffed her and hit her in her head with a stone.

The battered old woman was rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital where she died a few hours later.

“She kept telling me Zilma, I can’t feel my head, pain, pain,” Zilma related to SEARCHLIGHT.

As she reflected on her mother, Zilma said that her mother was a hard working domestic worker, who singlehandedly did all that she could for all her children, including the son, who is believed to have committed the unbelievable, heart-rending crime.

“In spite of his attitude she still used to give him anything,” Zilma recalled.

Meanwhile, it has surfaced that Carlyle may have had a history of mental illness, but his sister Zilma isn’t convinced.

“I not sure if he is sick. I think when he can’t get his way, that’s the way he behaves. They say he using drugs” she said.

Bertha, originally from Chateaubelair, was expected to be buried today.