Man accused of killing mom over video game headset in court. Who was he staring at?
A 28-year-old Ceres man accused of killing his mother last week over a broken video game headset made his first courtroom appearance Wednesday afternoon.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office formally charged Matthew Nicholson with murder in the shooting death of his mother, 68-year-old Lydia Susanne Nicholson. The murder charge includes enhancements for allegedly committing the crime with premeditation and using a gun, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday morning.
The defendant also is accused of making a criminal threat that would seriously injure his father, 81-year-old Loren Nicholson. The charge includes an enhancement for allegedly using a gun. Ceres police officials have said Loren Nicholson wrestled the gun away from his son, who then left the family’s home in a vehicle.
Matthew Nicholson entered the courtroom Wednesday afternoon wearing a gray jail inmate jumpsuit with shackles on his wrists and his ankles. He told the judge that he understood the charges against him. During the proceedings, he repeatedly looked back in the direction of family members.
Nicholson did not enter a plea Wednesday. Deputy Public Defender Sweena Pannu, Nicholson’s court-appointed attorney, asked the judge to postpone her client’s arraignment hearing.
Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Shawn Bessey scheduled Nicholson to return to court Jan. 26 for his continued arraignment. The judge said Nicholson will remain in custody at the county jail without a set bail amount, for the time being.
As he was leaving the courtroom, Nicholson stopped momentarily and stared intently at his sister and a few women with her sitting in the audience. His sister declined to comment after the proceedings.
The deadly shooting occurred Thursday after an argument between the defendant and his mother escalated to violence. About 9:50 p.m., police received a report of a woman shot inside her family’s home in the 1300 block of River Valley Circle, just north of Hatch Road in Ceres.
Officers arrived and found the 68-year-old victim with a gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to an area hospital for treatment but later died.
Ceres police officials have said Matthew Nicholson had been in his bedroom playing video games when he became upset and started yelling. When his mother went to check on him, he began to argue with her and ended up breaking the headset to his video game, according to police.
Police said Nicholson then blamed his mother for the broken headset and threatened to kill his parents. He retrieved a handgun from the home and fired two bullets into a wall and then shot his mother in the head, according to police.
Officers found the defendant at his relative’s Riverbank home, where they took him into custody.
This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Man accused of killing mom over video game headset in court. Who was he staring at?."