Woman bludgeons mother to death inside her own home: Police

WILLINGBORO TOWNSHIP, NJ — A 32-year-old woman has been arrested after allegedly bludgeoning her mother to death inside her own home, officials said.

Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Willingboro Township Police Chief Ian S. Bucs announced that Breanna Beacham -- who was temporarily staying at her mother’s residence on Hopewell Lane in Willingboro Township -- was charged on Tuesday with killing her mother in the victim’s home in the Hawthorne Park neighborhood.

“Police were called to the residence just before 4 p.m. for a report of an assault in progress,” according to a statement from the Burlington County prosecutor’s office on Tuesday. “Upon arrival, investigators discovered the body of Kim Beacham-Hanson, 57.”

The preliminary investigation determined that she had been bludgeoned to death, officials said.

“An autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood concluded her death was a homicide that was caused by multiple blunt injuries,” according to the Burlington County prosecutor’s office.

Beacham was taken into custody at the home early Tuesday evening and lodged in the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly pending a detention hearing in Superior Court. The case will now be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Breanna Beacham has now been charged with first degree murder, third degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth degree unlawful possession of a weapon .

The motive for the attack remains under investigation.