ILLINOIS – A 46-year-old Illinois man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of murdering his mother, Norma J. Caraker, by strangling her with a bungee cord in her bed. The brutal killing occurred in September 2023, after the woman returned home from a date.
The motive? Prosecutors say Neil Howard was furious about his mother’s dating life and upset that she refused to give him money.
The Murder and Arrest
Police responded to Caraker’s home in Troy, Illinois, just after 1:30 a.m. on September 13, 2023, following a 911 call from Howard himself. He told dispatchers his mother was unresponsive. Officers found Caraker in her bed, lifeless, with a bungee cord wrapped tightly around her neck.
Initially, Howard claimed that he saw an unknown man running from the house, but police found no evidence of a break-in and noted that the sliding door was locked from the inside. Howard, who was described as visibly intoxicated, was arrested shortly after.
Trial and Sentencing
In February, a jury deliberated for just three hours before finding Howard guilty of first-degree murder. Prosecutors argued that Howard was consumed by rage over his mother’s romantic relationships and financial independence, ultimately killing her in a drunken outburst.
“He had enough of her sleeping around. He had enough of her not giving him money,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Luke Yager during closing arguments.
Yager added that Howard’s anger had been building over time and boiled over after he’d been drinking. He strangled her until she stopped breathing.
Though prosecutors pushed for a 45-year minimum sentence, Judge Amy Maher handed down a 30-year term. Under Illinois law, Howard must serve the full sentence with no possibility of early release, meaning he’ll be 76 years old before he’s eligible for parole.
Defense Claims and Appeal
Howard’s defense attorneys argued that police had acted too quickly in arresting him and failed to properly investigate another potential suspect — the man Caraker had just been on a date with that night.
In a twist, DNA evidence presented in court showed that the date’s DNA was found on the bungee cord and beneath Caraker’s fingernails. However, the jury still found Howard guilty, and prosecutors maintained that the circumstantial and behavioral evidence pointed overwhelmingly to Howard as the killer.
His defense team, which worked the case pro bono, plans to appeal the conviction.
Family Reactions
Howard’s sister, Andrea Hall, and fiancée, Dawn Hall, testified for the defense and continued to support him throughout the trial. Andrea Hall told reporters she believed police “jumped the gun” by arresting her brother and said she “wasn’t expecting” a guilty verdict.
Neil Howard, 46, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2023 strangulation of his mother, Norma J. Caraker, with a bungee cord in her Troy, Illinois, home. Authorities say he murdered her in a drunken rage because he was angry over her dating life and refusal to support him financially. Despite DNA evidence pointing to another man, Howard was convicted and will serve his sentence without parole. His legal team has announced plans to appeal the conviction.
