Teen faces charges in death of Orange County man

Susan Jacobson

Sentinel Staff Writer

11:12 PM EDT, July 15, 2008

A teenager was arrested late Tuesday on charges of murder, attempted murder and grand-theft auto after a 20-year-old man was found dead at home and his mother seriously injured, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Matthew Braxton, 19, was arrested about 8:50 p.m. by a deputy assigned to the sheriff's Juvenile Arrest and Monitor Unit, said Jim Solomons, a sheriff's spokesman. He is suspected of killing James Walter Hufstetler and hurting his mother, Patricia Warren. A neighbor found them at their east Orange home on the 1100 block of Overdale Street about 10 a.m. Tuesday and called for an ambulance.

Investigators would not say how Hufstetler died or what injuries Warren suffered. Nor did they disclose a possible motive. Braxton was an acquaintance of the mother and son, Solomons said.

Deputies recovered Warren's 1994 Hyundai Elantra, which had been missing.

Braxton was convicted in April and September 2007 of grand-theft auto. Solomons said he also has a juvenile record, but details were not available.