A Missouri man, Derrick Alling, has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action after he allegedly killed his mother, Carolyn Alling, with a gardening tool. This isn’t one of those stories where the police piece things together days later; it sounds like they had an almost immediate suspicion that led to the discovery.
Warning: Description of murder to follow.
The whole case kicked off when Carolyn Alling’s husband, who is Derrick Alling’s stepfather, called for a well-being check around 9:30 PM on a Thursday because his wife hadn’t answered her phone for several hours. When deputies from the Christian County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the home in Ozark, they spoke to the son, Derrick Alling. According to Fox, right away, something seemed seriously off to the deputies.
Christian County Sheriff Brad Cole explained what happened in that initial interaction, saying that the deputies “just had a gut feeling that something wasn’t quite right, and they acted upon that”. That “gut feeling,” as the Sheriff put it, turned out to be true, leading them to detain Derrick Alling and investigate further. It really makes you wonder what subtle cues the deputies noticed in that moment that made them press the issue.
Son kills mother over horrible reason
When deputies asked the suspect where his mother was, he told them she was in a guest house on the property. However, things went south quickly when they started asking if she was okay. When asked if his mother was alright, Derrick Alling gave no response, according to the deputies. Then, when they asked if she was alive, he only said he didn’t think so. That’s obviously a huge red flag, and Sheriff Cole said it was this “interaction” that led them to detain him and find the victim.
The official probable cause statement reveals the horrifying detail that Carolyn Alling was repeatedly struck in the head and face with what was described as a gardening or scraping tool. That is an absolutely brutal way of killing anyone, let alone his mother.
On the possible motive, court documents show that the victim’s husband told investigators Derrick Alling had been threatening his mother in the weeks leading up to her death. The reason? He was demanding to be given his inheritance. It’s reported that Derrick Alling is the beneficiary of his mother’s trust, which appears to be the center of this awful dispute. It’s awful to think that a family tragedy like this could be caused by something as cold as money.
Derrick Alling is currently being held without bond, and although he has pleaded not guilty, he’s scheduled to be back in court on October 14. It’s a sad situation all around, and it’s a stark reminder that sometimes the most important tools police have are their intuition and training. It’s wild that a simple “gut feeling” led to such a rapid discovery in a murder case.
Published: Sep 30, 2025 06:10 pm