BARTOW, Fla. — 18-year-old, Moses Ojeda is accused of stabbing an 81-year-old man 113 times at an independent living facility in Bartow.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said ET Home Care LLC owns the group home where it happened.
A group home worker tells ABC Action News Annette Gutierrez off camera that the Ojeda was acting erratically the night it happened.
WATCH: "You’ve got to hide the knives:" Mental health counselor questions Baker Act release of murder suspect
"During the confession, we said, ‘Moses, why did you stab this victim?’ and he said, ‘voices in my head told me to kill him,'" said Judd.
Judd said Ojeda has been Baker Acted six times this year. And the most recent one had him in the hospital for about two weeks.
Saturday, he had arrived at the independent living care facility on Bluebird Avenue.
The sheriff said that within five hours of arriving, Ojeda stabbed and killed the 81-year-old victim 113 times.
Mental health counselor questions why a mental patient was released from a baker act if he still had homicidal tendencies
"He said 'the knife wasn’t very sharp,'" said Judd.
Ojeda reportedly washed the blood off himself, rinsed the knife, and put it back where he had found it. And he was still there when officers arrived sunday afternoon to investigate.
But Ojeda's mother had warned the police of his violent behavior.
"His mother told the people who owned the care facility, ‘you’ve got to hide the knives,’ and they did," said Judd.
So the question arises – why was he released in the first place?
"If he had left, and you know they had to say, ‘Hey, well hide the knives,’ that doesn't seem like his homicidal ideations had completely gone away," said licensed mental health counselor Kortney Ploski. "So, therefore, he probably shouldn't have been released if he still was having active, active auditory, or visual hallucinations, on top of homicidal ideations."
Ploski has nearly a decade of experience working with behavioral disabilities.
She said he should have been taken to a mental health institution or even an outpatient facility with a lockdown system in place.
"We see a lot of issues that arise, a lot of it being, you know, insurance issues, financial issues, resource issues," said Ploski. "So, I mean, we see it every day, issues within the system."
During his press conference, Monday afternoon, Judd said he saw documentation that claimed Ojeda was not suicidal or homicidal. But he said, "Somebody didn’t tell somebody the truth."
Ploski said this tragedy, unfortunately, affects everyone involved.
"It tears, my heart apart to see, you know somebody who struggles with mental health to have to endure something like this along with the families," said Ploski.
Ojeda has no criminal history, and now he is facing first-degree murder charges and tampering with physical evidence.
"Community supports St. Pete Beach bar owner after attack"
A local bar is at risk of shutting down, after it’s owner was attacked and hospitalized earlier this month.
"When you've spent eleven years with your fiancé building something that's great and people can enjoy…to know you might have to walk away from it, that is heartbreaking," said Tony Campetti, owner of Nikko's Dog Bar.
