A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after his mother was found dead in their home.
Police were called to a large £350,000 four-bedroom property in Wickford, Essex, at about 10am where they discovered the body of a woman named locally as 46-year-old accountant Tolu Kalejaiye.
Her son, who is aged 21, was arrested shortly after and remained in custody tonight. Neighbours said they had been told the mother was stabbed to death, but it was not confirmed how she died.
More than 10 of Mrs Kalejaiye’s friends and family stood in tears this afternoon outside the family home, which remained cordoned off whilst a team of forensic officers worked inside the property.
Michael Day, 57, her neighbour on the quiet road, said: ‘I left my house at just gone 9.30am and when I came back 10 minutes later, there was all this commotion.
‘People were running around on the grass outside on their phones and it was all very chaotic. Police cars were quickly on the scene and then the police helicopter was overhead.’
Mr Day described Mrs Kalejaiye as ‘pleasant’, saying that he would only usually see her on Sunday mornings when she went to church. ‘She would wave when she saw me,’ he added.
According to her Facebook profile, Mrs Kalejaiye is engaged, studied accounting and finance at Middlesex University in Hendon, north London, and is originally from Abeokuta in Nigeria.
She had also been involved in a successful campaign with other neighbours to establish village green status for the small area of grass at the front of her home.
An Essex Police spokesman said: ‘Detectives are investigating the death of a woman in Wickford. Officers were called shortly after 10am today after neighbours reported concerns for a resident at a house in Wethersfield Way.
‘Officers attended and found the body of a woman in her 40s. The death is being treated as suspicious.
‘A cordon is in place around the property. A 21-year-old man has been arrested.
May her soul rest in peace