Mentally ill teen stabbed elderly man 113 times in his bed
(This story was revised to include new information.)
An 18-year-old Bartow man faces a charge of first-degree murder after the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said he stabbed an 81-year-old man to death in his bed.
The Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Moses Ojeda, accused of fatally stabbing a fellow resident of an independent group home in Bartow overnight on May 17 or May 18. Ojeda, who had a history of mental health problems, carried out the murder a mere five hours after arriving at the facility, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference Monday afternoon.
Ojeda entered the man’s room as he slept and stabbed him 113 times with a kitchen knife, Judd said. While confessing to the crime, Ojeda said that voices in his head had commanded him to kill the man, Judd said.
While Judd did not name the victim during the news conference, a news release from PCSO identified him as Patrick Benway.
Ojeda had been committed for involuntary psychological examination six times this year under Florida’s Baker Act, Judd said. During the most recent episode, Ojeda was held for two weeks, Judd said.
The suspect has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, anxiety, ADHD and sudden outbursts of rage, Judd said. Though Ojeda had no criminal history, his mother reported that he had been violent toward her, the sheriff said.
When Ojeda’s mother delivered him to the house on the afternoon of May 17, she warned others to “hide the knives,” Judd said. Someone in the house did that, but Ojeda found a block of knives and used one to stab the victim, Judd said.
Investigators asked Ojeda why he had stabbed the victim so many times, and he said it was because the knife was not sharp, Judd said. Investigators found four or five deep wounds, with the rest much shallower, the sheriff said.
Judd displayed a photo showing the knife with the tip broken off.
After stabbing Benway, Ojeda went into a bathroom and rinsed off the knife before returning it to its storage place, Judd said. Ojeda cleaned and removed his bloody clothing and went to bed, the sheriff said.
The group home on Blue Bird Avenue held four residents, Judd said. One had gone away for the weekend.
The victim normally did not leave his room for breakfast, and it was not until noon that another resident entered Benway’s room and found him covered in blood, Judd said. Someone then called 911, and Bartow police soon arrived to find the victim dead.
While being interviewed, the suspect said that Benway had awoken and asked Ojeda, “Why do you want to stab me?”
“I just do,” Ojeda answered, according to Judd.
Ojeda told investigators that he had no negative interactions with Benway before the stabbing and described him as “a good guy,” Judd said.
Judd described the house as an independent living group home for adults, with no supervising staff. It is operated by ET Home Care LLC, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Florida business records list an ETCare Health Services, incorporated in 2022 and based in Greenacres, a city in Palm Beach County.
Under Florida law, independent group homes are not licensed by the Department of Health. An operator must seek a license from either the Department of Children and Families, Agency for Persons with Disabilities or Agency for Health Care Administration. It was not clear May 19 which agency licensed the Bartow facility.
ET Home Care operates four homes in the same neighborhood, a newer subdivision west of E.F. Griffin Road, southwest of Spessard Holland Elementary School.
Ojeda had left the home during his first evening there to wander the streets of the neighborhood, Judd said. He forgot the entry code and had to be let back in by one of the residents.
The operators of the home had decided that Ojeda required more care than they were able to provide and planned to ask his mother to take him back, Judd said.
PCSO deputies arrested Ojeda on charges of first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence.
Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
link
