The Franklin County, N.C., teen charged with beheading his mother in 2017 has been judged not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to state psychiatric care.

At his hearing Monday, Oliver Funes Machada stood and told Superior Court Judge Henry Hight Jr., “I just want to say I’m sorry. Let’s hope God forgives me.”

Machada, 18 at the time of the slaying, called 911 and told emergency dispatchers he had killed his mother “because I felt like it.” The sheriff reported at the time that the teen walked out of the house holding his mother’s head and a large butcher knife.

Prosecutors dropped first-degree murder charges last year and transferred him to Central Regional Hospital to evaluate his fitness to go forward in the case.

By Tribune News Service