On March 20, 2017, Tahirih Lua D’Angelo was found brutally murdered in her Riverview, Florida home. Investigators quickly realized this was a personal attack when they discovered she had been killed on her 39th birthday. Suspicion only deepened when a bloodied aluminum baseball bat with the word "Rampage" imprinted on the side, was located by the front door…
Chapter 1: Who was Tahirih Lua D’Angelo?
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. I wanted to release from all the hard things I had to do and how pointlessly hard I made my life. Did you feel a release? No. I feel like...
Welcome to the premier source of murder in your household. Sword and Scale, this is season 12, episode 290-something of, you know, The Thing. What shapes a person? In America, the answer is probably DoorDash and Chick-fil-A, judging by our healthcare costs. But I'm talking psychologically here. We've often talked about nature versus nurture.
Is a person's brain predispositioned since birth due to inherited traits, or is it slowly formed by experiences over time? We've come to learn that, like so many other things in life, the answer is not black and white. It's nuanced. Psychological disorders aside, and by the way, we all have them, the fact of the matter is that you are in the driver's seat.
And until you relinquish control and let the crazy take over, which, by the way, is a choice... You are responsible for your actions, despite what's happened to you in the past and despite what society tells you these days. We are the only ones behind the wheel of our own destiny. Those are just the facts. The sooner we figure out that no one is coming to save us, the better.
And while some strive to do their best to steer through life responsibly, Others can be careless, holding little to no value for human existence, including their own. It's Thursday, March 20th, 2017, at the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Tampa, Florida.
The fluorescent light flickers in the stark interrogation room, casting shadows off three empty chairs awkwardly positioned inside the 8x10 space. At 1024 p.m., 18-year-old Joshua Carmona is seen on surveillance, casually entering the room. Joshua is still in his street clothes and isn't handcuffed. A surprising detail considering the purpose of his visit with investigators.
Just so you know, man, this room is audio and video recorded. Just so you know, I'm going to turn this on as a backup. And the reason why we do that is so I can't put any words in your mouth, okay?
Joshua looks up to notice the CCTV camera pointed directly at him, but is unbothered. while aware that everything he says can and will be used against him. By now, the two detectives have scooted their chairs just inches from his. They're positioned in a perfect triangle, and for the first time ever, Joshua is given the undivided attention he's always wanted.
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Chapter 2: What happened on March 20, 2017?
While sitting at an uncomfortably close distance, authorities read him his Miranda rights. Then they moved to establish the suspect's level of competency before diving into the interview.
3.5?
So it was pretty good. I heard you went to Fordham University. Yes, sir. That's a pretty good school.
It was a great school.
Yeah? Did you like it up there in New York?
I had fun. Yeah? I wouldn't say I liked it.
No? I'm originally from New York and everything, so I'm Kind of familiar with the area. New York Street. I just did a lot of bad things.
The female detective on Joshua's left is holding a red folder. In it are crime scene photos, witness statements, and evidence logs. Her partner then leans in as he continues to gauge where Joshua's head is at this very moment.
Do you take any medications or anything?
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Chapter 3: How did Joshua Carmona's childhood affect his actions?
Then in February of 2017, Joshua hit rock bottom when he was pulled over for drunk driving in Georgia. He was ultimately arrested and charged with a DUI, which can be a real wake-up call, believe you me. In his mind, this was the last straw. For the next several weeks, he struggled to maintain the appearance of a man holding it together. He started to let the mask slip a bit.
In reality, he was quietly unraveling, and his hatred towards the world would soon manifest into several downward swings of pure violence.
The thing that would come out of this was just a release from... what I did to my life, besides all the problems, like the legal issues. Sure. I made myself feel like shit for no reason until I wanted to release from all the hard things I had to do and how pointlessly hard I made my life. Do you feel a release? No. I feel like what I tried to do was get attention from my family.
I threw everything away and it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. I tried to end something.
At just 18 years old, Joshua Carmona was already at odds with the universe. A promising student with a passion for baseball, he once had a potentially bright future. But beneath the surface of his accomplishments, he was discontent with life. He was convinced it had dealt him a lousy hand and he just couldn't let it go.
On the afternoon of March 20th, 2017, following a disturbing 911 call, Hillsborough County deputies arrived at a townhouse on Hawthorne Place Drive in Riverview, Florida. Upon entering the residence, authorities grimaced at a scene so gruesome that some excused themselves to go vomit outside. It's hard to get a cop to vomit, but not impossible.
While crime scene techs work to secure the home and gather evidence, a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department held a press conference at the scene.
Unfortunately, I did find a female inside the residence who was deceased. We're currently in the process of making next-of-kin notification. Once we complete that, we release the victim's identity. We're also in the process of conducting a search warrant and getting it signed by a judge for the residence here.
We're currently interviewing neighbors, family members to try to identify a cause for this crime at this point. It's still very early and we're conducting a number of investigations at this time. We don't feel that the neighbors in this area are in any danger and that was not random. But again, we're still working through the early phases of the investigation.
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Chapter 4: What events led to Joshua's violent decision?
Because marijuana has a distinct odor to it, and spice has a distinct odor to it. I just don't know.
You don't know? Okay. And if you don't know, that's okay. Either way, what I have is in my car.
The man-made chemical known as K2 is designed to mimic the effects of THC, but is much stronger. Regardless, there's a reason this stuff has since been outlawed in virtually all 50 states. As for Joshua, it may have worked as a truth serum of sorts during his interrogation. Luckily for investigators, he was kind of an open book. When she came home, I snagged up on her. And I used a bat.
What did you do with the bat? I did what you saw.
Chapter 5: How did the police respond to the crime scene?
When his mother finally returned home around noon, Joshua greeted her in the doorway and directed her attention to the staircase banister he'd destroyed with the baseball bat.
She comes in. I told her to go look at something. I was standing in the kitchen. I just told her to look over there.
With her back turned to him, Joshua picks up the bat, holds it over his head, and swings it. Following the initial blow to the back of his mother's head, she stumbled into the kitchen table.
she fell on the table okay and do you remember that happening and breaking the table or something she she just went against it and the table got bent because of that okay are we in the living room or the kitchen or something else this is the kitchen and it opens up into the living room the dining area and so the table you're talking about is in which room the dining area okay
While Tara was still conscious, she threw her hands up in self-defense, lying helplessly on her back on the kitchen floor. She begged her son to stop, but Joshua showed no remorse, no emotion, and continued to bludgeon his mother's skull. Why are kids like this nowadays? Violent, entitled, Automatons.
And when she's on the ground, what are you doing? How are you doing? Over your head? How many times do you think you hit her when she was on the ground? Probably five or six. Five or six? At least. At least? Could it be more than ten? No. So less than ten? Between five and ten?
Yeah.
Okay.
But she wasn't home. And so I just kept hitting her until she... As a result of severe blunt force trauma, his mother murmured and groaned on the floor. But that didn't stop Joshua.
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Chapter 6: What details emerged from Joshua's interrogation?
Naturally, his friend was at a loss for words, but before he even had a chance to reply, Joshua told him that he was going on the run and planned to kill himself. Which, to be fair, may have been the most practical idea this young man has had in his whole fucking life.
Although he didn't provide much detail regarding how he was going to commit suicide, Joshua quickly said goodbye to his sister and friend before hopping back into his dead mother's car and peeling out. of the parking lot. From there, he got on the highway before pulling off a nearby exit and into a 7-Eleven.
At around 4 p.m., the evening of the murder, he attempted to make three separate withdrawals from an ATM inside using his mother's debit cards. All of the transactions, of course, were declined. But on the fourth and final attempt, Joshua got lucky.
And then what was the rest of the plan for the day?
It was to get cash so I could take the car.
So how are you going to get cash?
With her cards. Do you know her pin numbers and all that stuff? I figured one out. You figured one out? Okay.
How'd you do that? I saw her phone. Her pin numbers on her phone? Does she have like a swipe access or anything on her phone? Okay.
Joshua then texted his drug dealer and drove the short distance to his house, where he picked up a bag of weed, because that's the priority here. Make no mistake.
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Chapter 7: What was the aftermath of the murder?
Josh, that's something that you may want to think about, okay? I don't know necessarily if you want me to relay that message to them.
Uh, yeah. You killed your mom, so pretty sure your sister's gonna have to live with that. Following the nearly hour-long interrogation, Joshua was placed back in the handcuffs and officially charged with first-degree murder.
Breaking news right now, an arrest in the murder of a woman found dead on her 39th birthday at a Riverview home. Deputies put the cuffs on Joshua Leon Carmona. They claim he used a baseball bat and a knife to kill his mother, Tahiri DeAngelo.
Joshua Carmona, an 18-year-old with a deranged perception of what he viewed as a turbulent past, had long struggled with feelings of isolation and resentment. His relationship with his mother, once close and supportive, had deteriorated into tension and estrangement. On March 20, 2017, that tension erupted into extreme violence inside their Riverview, Florida home.
When police were called to the townhouse on Hawthorne Trace Lane, they quickly located the body of 39-year-old Tara DeAngelo. She'd been beaten to death with a baseball bat, and her throat had been slit with a butcher knife. The victim's body was found in the bathroom, partially wrapped in both a bed sheet and a comforter.
Forensic investigators determined that the attack started in the living room and ended in the bathroom. Blood spatter on the carpet, walls, and tile floor indicated a prolonged struggle. Defensive wounds on Tara's arms showed that she briefly tried to fight back. The most personal injuries were the two lacerations across both the front and back of the victim's neck.
The wound directly beneath Tara D'Angelo's chin was approximately four inches long and so deep her uvula and larynx were exposed, severing major arteries and veins as a result. Investigators quickly found the murder weapon by the front door. A red aluminum Easton baseball bat with the word Rampage ominously printed on its side. How fitting.
Authorities also located the bloody knife, which was found on the right side of the kitchen sink. There, among a few dirty dishes, was a large blade, partially covered by a blue Tupperware lid and a black spatula. Roughly nine hours after the murder, the suspect, Joshua Carmona, was apprehended by deputies when his mother's car was spotted traveling down a nearby interstate.
Inside the vehicle, authorities located the victim's pharmacy Walmart badge, a Rawlings baseball glove, and the bottle of Aunt Jemima syrup Joshua had asked his mother to bring home roughly one hour before he ended her life. Maybe he was just upset about the portrayal of African Americans on syrup. Who knows what kids are pissed off at these days, but it's probably something stupid.
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