A Cobb County teen is under arrest and accused of murdering his own mother, 58-year-old Diane McElrath.

Detectives from the Cobb County Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit say 18-year old Damien Cornell Purdue McElrath may be young, but he’s no stranger to the law.  He’s been in jail a couple of times over the past year accused of shoplifting and probation violation.

Now he’s suspected of murder.  Neighbors in the Zachary Woods subdivision off Barrett Parkway tell police that McElrath is the person he stabbed was his mother.  

McElrath is also the one who reportedly called 9-1-1 and then sat on the curb waiting for officers to arrive.  Police remained at the scene Monday afternoon, waiting for a warrant that allows them to go into the house and search for evidence.

Cobb Police Sgt. Dana Pierce says the 911 caller was McElrath.   He’s been in trouble with the law before convicted of stealing from a local store in West Cobb.  He was also jailed in April for a probation violation and was supposed to undergo drug testing just last Friday.

Sgt. Pierce tells WSB the operator got a 911 call around 1:45 p.m. from a young man who said his mother had been stabbed to death.

The murder investigation is ongoing.  Stay tuned to News Talk WSB for the latest in this developing story.