VERO BEACH — A woman killed in a deputy involved shooting had been thrown down the stairs and had her head smashed into the tile at her home by her son a few days earlier, an arrest report states.
The son, James Teel, 36, of the 600 block of Carriage Lake Way, Vero Beach, was arrested Monday and charged with domestic violence. He is being held at the Indian River County Jail on $2,000 bail.
His mother, Susan Teel, 62, was killed at the home about 8 p.m. Wednesday after a deputy shot her in the master bedroom, Sheriff Deryl Loar said. The deputy had responded to a call of a woman attempting suicide.
Loar said Susan Teel lunged at the deputy with a large butcher knife, which prompted him to shoot.
The violent altercation prior to her death involved James Teel and his wife, Gretter Lamas, the report states. Deputies spoke with Susan Teel about 11 p.m. Monday at the Sebastian River Medical Center, where they saw her with bruising and swelling above her left eye.
The woman told deputies her son James Teel came to the home earlier and asked if he could bring his son.
Susan Teel said that was fine, but also said she didn’t want his wife to come to the home, the report states. Lamas ended up coming to the home and went upstairs with her child to watch TV.
She told deputies she kept telling her son she didn’t want Lamas at the home because there was an injunction for protection in place between Lamas and James Teel, the report states. They continued to argue and when Susan Teel tried to leave the home, James Teel blocked the door.
Then, Susan and James Teel both went upstairs to the room Lamas was in, where Susan Teel told James Teel and Lamas they needed to leave, the report states. James Teel then told Susan Teel that they would leave if she gave them some money.
James Teel then grabbed both women by the hair and threw them down the stairs, the report states. When he went downstairs, he grabbed them again by the hair, smashed their heads together and said “kiss and make up.”
Then, James Teel grabbed Susan Teel by her hair and slammed her head into the tile multiple times. After that, James Teel, Lamas and their child left the home.
Susan Teel told deputies James Teel had lived at the home, but was recently kicked out, the report states. She said she allowed her son to stay there that night.
She told deputies James Teel has been very violent with her in the past, but she has been afraid to report him to law enforcement, the report states. Deputies went to the home, arrested James Teel and took him to the county jail for booking.
Lamas was uncooperative with deputies and told them Susan Teel was “pilled up,” which caused her to fall down the stairs.
A Florida Traffic Crash report shows Susan Teel was involved in a two-vehicle accident after she left the home. She was driving an eastbound car shortly after 9:30 p.m. in the 4300 block of 8th Street, Vero Beach, when she ran the red light at 43rd Avenue, the report states.
Her car then struck the rear right front of a southbound SUV at the intersection, causing the SUV to spin clockwise. Susan Teel’s car finally stopped in front of a concrete utility pole on the southeast corner of the intersection, the report states.
Susan Teel told deputies she was upset with the violent altercation with her son earlier that day. For the accident, she said all she could remember was that she hit a pole.
There was no damage to the front of the car that indicated it hit the pole. Susan Teel had several cuts on her legs from the impact and was taken to Sebastian River Medical Center, the report states. Nobody in the SUV was injured.
