By Deke Farrow
The Modesto Bee
CERES, Calif. — A 28-year-old Ceres man is being held without bail after police said he fatally shot his mother in the head, blaming her for breaking his video-game headset during an argument.
About 9:48 Thursday night, Ceres police received a report of a woman shot inside the home in the 1300 block of River Valley Circle. They found the 68-year-old victim suffering a gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to an area hospital for treatment but later succumbed to her injuries.
Investigators determined Matthew Nicholson had been in his bedroom playing video games when he got upset and started yelling. When his mother went to check on him, he began to argue with her and ended up breaking the headset to his video game, police said.
Nicholson then blamed her for the broken headset and threatened to kill the victim and Nicholson’s father.
He retrieved a handgun from the home and fired two rounds into an inside wall and then shot his mother in the head.
Matthew Nicholson’s father wrestled the gun away from his son, who then fled the scene in a vehicle and went to a relative’s home in Riverbank. Officers found the vehicle there, conducted a high-risk traffic stop and took Nicholson into custody.
Police confirmed Friday afternoon that the victim, Matthew Nicholson’s mother, was Lydia Susanne Nicholson, 68, and that his father is Loren Nicholson, 81.
Friday afternoon at the home, a woman who identified herself at Matthew Nicholson’s sister politely declined comment.
©2018 The Modesto Bee (Modesto, Calif.)