Son beheaded mother 'two days before psychiatrist appointment'
Derek Ward allegedly cut off his mother's head before taking his own life. (Supplied) Supplied
The New York woman decapitated by her own son before he jumped in front of a train was just two days away from getting the medication that may have prevented her death.
Derek Ward, 35, butchered his 66-year-old mother Pat on Tuesday evening at their Long Island apartment before dragging her headless corpse onto the street and walked to the nearby Long Island Railroad Station where he committed suicide, the New York Daily News reports.
Ms Ward had been desperately seeking an appointment with a psychiatrist in order to get him back on medication and she got one, but it was two days too late his uncle said.
"He killed my sister because we couldn't get the prescriptions he needed," Reverend Robert Lubrano told the Daily News.
"For four days, he didn't have his meds."
According to Reverend Lubrano, Derek had been battling mental issues for the past ten years but had never been violent.
"He never raised his hand to her, never had a gun," he said.
"This is all about mental illness and the difficulty of getting a psychiatrist.
When the reverend couldn't contact his sister on Tuesday night he got in his car and drove to her Farmingdale apartment, only to find the streets block off by police.
A police officer informed him of the tragedy, to which he was "heartbroken".
A funeral for Ms Ward is scheduled for next week.
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