Teen charged with homicide in grandmother's strangling in South Milwaukee

SOUTH MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A 15-year-old boy from South Milwaukee is being charged as an adult with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of his grandmother, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday, Sept. 5.

Investigators said police were called to a home near the corner of 17th and Oak on Wednesday, Aug. 27, for a report of a person not breathing. Officers reportedly found the suspect's 68-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth Totsky, on the kitchen floor.

The criminal complaint says the woman's 15-year-old grandson was the one who called 911, initially telling police he and his grandmother were cooking when she had a seizure and fell.

Totsky was taken to the hospital but died on Sunday, Aug. 31.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office reported evidence of strangulation.

The complaint says Totsky's husband told police their grandson had placed his wife into a chokehold before, strangling her two months before her death.

Police say after arresting the teen, he changed his initial story of how he found his grandmother, saying he wasn't even in the same room when she fell.

Police say he later admitted that he strangled his grandmother using his right arm and elbow to apply force to her neck for around five minutes, only stopping when he felt her body go limp.

A judge set the 15-year-old boy's bond at $100,000 Monday, Sept. 8.

CBS 58 News isn't naming the teen until the decision to keep him in adult court is finalized.