BUCK COUNTY, PA (BCDAO) – A 28-year-old man was charged on Monday, April 10, 2023, with killing his mother over the weekend.
Sean Rivera, of Berwyn Road, Morrisville, Falls Township, drugged 72-year-old Carol J. Clark by putting fentanyl in her iced tea and then drove her to Philadelphia where he shot and killed her, leaving her body in a shed. Her body was located overnight, and she was pronounced deceased early Monday morning.
Rivera was charged Monday with criminal homicide, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, kidnaping to inflict terror or injury, aggravated assault, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of an instrument of crime, possession of a weapon, false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, and recklessly endangering another person. He was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Jan Vislosky and was remanded to Bucks County Correctional Facility without bail.
This investigation began on Sunday afternoon for a report of a domestic dispute between two brothers regarding the whereabouts of their mother.
During the investigation, Detectives learned Rivera lived with his mother at 505 Berwyn Road. On Sunday morning, Rivera informed his brother, who lives in New York, that their mother had died. When the brother arrived, Rivera would not say where their mother was.
The Falls Township Police Department put out an alert, asking the public to help them locate Clark.
Detectives later obtained warrants to search the home and the victim’s vehicle, locating two firearms, as well as a Home Depot receipt, a padlock, and an empty padlock package. A set of bolt cutters was found inside the victim’s vehicle. The investigation concluded that Rivera diluted fentanyl in his mother’s iced tea sometime Saturday night. With his mother in a conscious but lethargic state, he placed her in her vehicle and drove her to the shed in the 4300 block of Waln Street in Philadelphia sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. Sunday.
There, he used the bolt cutters to cut off any padlocks, placed his mother inside and then shot her multiple times. He then closed the shed and locked it with one of the padlocks he had purchased. The shed was opened with a key recovered from the defendant.
This case was investigated by Detectives from the Falls Township Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, Homicide Unit. This case is assigned for prosecution to Deputy District Attorney Monica W. Furber.
