The Arizona Republic reports Phoenix police arrested 39-year-old Anitra Braxton on suspicion of first-degree murder on Saturday after discovering an unidentified body in her apartment in the 1500 block of West Missouri Avenue.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers discovered the woman’s body with a gunshot wound to the head covered with a towel on the suspect’s couch. Braxton allegedly told investigators she shot the victim in the eye for not believing in ‘God.’ Braxton also allegedly said she shot the woman in the eye and that the body was a “shrine from God.” She confessed to keeping the body for days and bizarrely claimed that the corpse was her own body.
Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump told reporters that Braxton’s statements were “somewhat delusional” during interrogation, and that she would not reveal the identity of her victim, described as a heavyset black woman in her 30s or 40s who is believed to have been pregnant.
“She will not tell us who the victim is. When we ask for the victim’s name, she gives her own name,” Crump said. “At this point, we’re not sure what her thought process is or what type of mental illness she may be suffering from.”
Neighbor Lenner Tumblin told ABC 15 that there was always noise coming from Braxton’s apartment, which is directly below his.
“Like a psychotic rage,” Tumblin said. “She’s constantly going off, constantly.”
Tumblin added that Braxton “has mental problems” and was always talking about the Bible.
“She would always talk about a certain book of the Bible,” Tumblin said. “The book of Jeremiah. But all she kept saying is, ‘God told me to read the book of Jeremiah’ over and over again.”
The Associated Press reports Braxton is being held on a $750,000 bond on one count of first-degree premeditated murder. If it is determined that the slain woman was pregnant, she will be charged with double murder.
