Woman believed to have killed mother with rock had violent past, court documents show
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- We're learning new details about the murder of a Milwaukee woman reportedly beaten to death with a rock by her own daughter. It happened Sunday, Oct. 12 near 23rd and Ramsey. According to court documents, the victim had tried getting away from her daughter in the past.
Carrie Zettel
Carrie Zettel, 64, had a restraining order and a no contact order from 2018 to 2022 against her 29-year-old daughter.
In court documents, CBS 58 found out her daughter had a history of violent tendencies against Zettel and her husband, who had reportedly been struck and threatened by their daughter.
According to a search warrant, on Sunday, Zettel called 911 at 2:06 p.m., stating her daughter -- who we are not naming yet because she hasn't been charged -- was "being violent."
When police arrived 14 minutes later, they found Zettel with "severe trauma to her head with brain matter visible" covered in blood. She was pronounced dead a few minutes later.
Officers arrested the daughter, covered in what was believed to be the victim's blood.
In a petition for a temporary restraining order in 2018, Zettel wrote that her daughter "threatened life with a knife in hand after she struck her father repeatedly on [his] head with heavy decorative bottles," had thrown heavy items at them, and didn't want to stay at a halfway house. Zettel says the daughter had even put her father's head through drywall. A neighbor told CBS 58 that the dad died a few days later.
In a letter from the daughter written shortly after she said, "I haven't accepted my dad's death. My mom says I killed him, but I don't remember doing it." She acknowledged she acts out because of her mental illness, adding, "my paranoia is pretty bad... people are afraid of me."
According to criminal complaints, the daughter violated a domestic abuse injunction in March and April of 2018. Then in December of 2021, documents show the daughter threw rocks through windows at 2 a.m. to get inside Zettel's home. She was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery and theft.
The daughter had also been charged with misdemeanor battery and theft for causing a disturbance at a Colectivo on Memorial Drive on June 21, 2020, when according to a criminal complaint, she had struck an employee "several times." When she was arrested by police, it was noted that she appeared lethargic. After being screened for drugs, she tested positive for THC, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
Though the daughter had been charged in the past for battery, domestic abuse assessments, disorderly conduct, and criminal damage, she was found incompetent.
Loretta Moyer said she considered Carrie to be a mother-figure for her. She said Carrie tried to get her daughter help, often driving her to stay at a Motel. The daughter was kicked out of a group home in July and was last in a mental institution in Chicago in September, according to Moyer.
For those living with domestic violence, there is help out there. CLICK HERE for more.
Meantime, a vigil for Zettel will be held Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.