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Rashid Jihad Jones beat his grandmother to death with a baseball bat in their Vineland, New Jersey, apartment on Feb. 23, 2010, then was shot dead by police after refusing commands to drop the bat, Cumberland County authorities said.

Jones, 25, called 911 from the apartment at Regency East, an adults-only complex on East Chestnut Avenue, and told a dispatcher, "I just killed somebody," Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said. He said he had beaten 73-year-old Betty Buxton, and when asked why, replied, "'Cause she's a demon."

Vineland police Capt. Rudy Beu, a 28-year veteran who had just gone off duty but rejoined the response after hearing the call over his radio, and Ptl. John Calio confronted Jones in a hallway outside the apartment around 3:30 p.m. Witnesses told investigators Jones ignored repeated commands to drop the bat and advanced on the officers while swinging it.

Beu and Calio fired, striking Jones four times, mostly in the pelvic area. He was pronounced dead at South Jersey Healthcare-Regional Medical Center.

Officers then found Buxton beaten and bleeding inside the apartment. She was taken to Cooper University Hospital in Camden, where she died of blunt force trauma to the head. Autopsies the next day confirmed both causes of death.

Court records show Buxton had taken Jones in nearly four years earlier, after posting his $1,000 bail on terroristic threats and criminal mischief charges in April 2006. Neighbors described Jones as having a mental disorder, and one said Buxton had mentioned trouble with her grandson the morning of the killing. Investigators found no record of prior violence between the two, and it remained unclear why Jones attacked her.

Beu, Calio and Ptl. Ryan Watkins, who also responded, were placed on administrative leave with pay while Webb-McRae's office investigated the shooting, a review required under state policy whenever police use deadly force. On Oct. 5, 2010, Webb-McRae announced that her office, with the case reviewed by the state Attorney General's office, had determined Beu and Calio were legally justified in shooting Jones.