INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Prosecutors last week added a murder charge against Nicholas Ivey, suspected of beating his grandmother to death earlier this year in the Grand Harbor Condominium they shared. The latest charge comes four months after Ivey was booked on other related charges in the suspicious death case.
Nicholas Ivey PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
“I am proud of the work our investigations team did to bring justice to Patricia DiBella and her family. No one should lose their life at the hands of someone they trusted and welcomed into their home,” Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said in a statement.
“I encourage anyone experiencing domestic violence to contact law enforcement.”
Ivey, 29, was charged with first-degree murder, along with tampering with physical evidence, June 3. He was previously arrested on charges related to the suspicious death, including grand theft auto, criminal use of personal identification information, unlawful possession of a stolen credit card and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Deputies said Ivey previously admitted to killing 76-year-old DiBella by snapping her neck, punching and stomping on her head while she was on the ground. Ivey admitted to a detective that he killed his grandmother at the residence they shared at Fairways.
“She came at me with a knife,” Ivey told detectives in the arrest report.
What happened
Sheriff’s deputies conducted a welfare check the evening of Feb. 2 at DiBella’s home in the 5000 block of Fairway Circle, north of Vero Beach.
DiBella had not been heard from since the previous day, Lt. Kevin Jaworski, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, previously said.
Deputies spoke with Ivey in the parking lot, where he made suspicious statements about DiBella’s death. Ivey told deputies DiBella poked him in the back with a kitchen steak knife.
Ivey beat DiBella and then moved her body from the kitchen floor to her bed, reports show. Ivey told deputies he washed his bloody sweatshirt he wore during the beating and washed towels he used to clean the blood off the floor.
Deputies said Ivey stole DiBella’s Nissan sedan and used her credit cards to buy items at the store. When Ivey returned home, he called his father and admitted to killing his grandmother, reports show.
The Nissan was taken to the sheriff’s office compound as evidence. Deputies went in the home and found DiBella’s body.
The body was taken to the medical examiner’s office.
Ivey’s arraignment for the additional charges was set for 9 a.m. July 22, court records show.
Anyone experiencing domestic violence or who knows someone in danger should call 911, SafeSpace at 772-288-7023 or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
