Elderly Woman's Murder Prompts Questions About Mental Health Care Access

CHICAGO (CBS)--A man is being held in the psychiatric ward of a Chicago hospital Monday night after he allegedly killed his 88-year-old grandmother.

Police said the grandmother, 88-year-old Valoria Taylor, was allegedly killed by the man, who suffers from schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder.

CBS 2 is not releasing the man's name because he has not been formally charged.

"She was the pillar of this neighborhood," said family friend Gail Baker.

Taylor was about two weeks away from her 89th birthday when her 19-year-old grandson shot his 39-year-old aunt in the head and barricaded himself in a residential building.

Six hours later, police broke in and found Taylor shot to death.

"It's sad that she had come this far, 89 years old, and die at the hands of someone with a mental illness, and it be her relative," said Roeshell Edward Pillows, a nephew of Taylor.

Pillows said the great grandson sometimes spent the night at Taylor's home, but he did not live with her.

Taylor was a fixture on the Park Manor Community Council, which meets just across from her home near St. Columbanus Church.

"It would be nice to have that place right here in Park Manor where we could provide those services," said Father Matt O'Donnell. "Even if it was at one
of our churches , to have a social worker to provide services for people in need."

The closest public mental health clinics are in Englewood, two miles away.

"There's no reason--if he's mentally got a problem, go to a doctor, go to a hospital (but) don't come over here and hurt her," Pillows said.