74-year-old man accused of hitting his 100-year-old mother with a broom in cat feeding incident

A 74-year-old Florida man was arrested by Volusia County sheriff's deputies after they said he struck his 100-year-old mother with a broom and threatened to kill her. David Corning was charged with aggravated battery on a person over the age of 65, a felony, after deputies spoke to his mother, Ellen Corning, at the hospital on Wednesday.

Ellen Corning, who turned 100 in April, told deputies that her son also threatened to kill her and that she is afraid of him. The row between mother and son occurred on Tuesday evening in their home outside DeLand but Ellen Corning told deputies she was afraid to report it at the time.



The centenarian said she had entered her son's bedroom to feed his cat. When her son walked in and saw his mother, he began yelling. At one point, David Corning said to his mother, "Go back inside you (expletive deleted) or I will kill you." He then grabbed a broom and swung it at his mother, hitting her on the side of the head and breaking her glasses, deputies reported.

Ellen Corning said she went back into her bedroom for the rest of the evening because she fears her son. David Corning told deputies that his mother should be taken into custody under the Baker Act and that he hit her accidentally with the handle of a vacuum cleaner while she was sitting on a chair in his bedroom. Ellen Corning told deputies that she wants to move forward with charges against her son. David Corning is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail with no bail allowed.