By Anthony Mendoza and Scott Schwebke

GARDEN GROVE — Three weeks ago, Barbara Scheuer-Souzer was desperate to find her 13-year-old autistic son, who had run away from their Orange County home.

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After four days, the boy was found safe in Pomona, 30 miles away. It’s unclear how he got there, what he had been doing.

On Wednesday afternoon, in a bloody rage that shocked seasoned police officers, the boy allegedly stabbed his 47-year-old mother repeatedly and left her to die in front of their home, on a block of neat bungalows 3 miles from Disneyland.

She did die, but not before telling a police officer that the assailant was her son.

“In my 25 years of doing this job, I haven’t handled a call where a child has killed a parent,” Garden Grove Lt. Carl Whitney said. “Usually, it’s the other way around. People don’t think of kids having those types of thoughts of doing something so heinous.”

Police searched inside the home where the woman was stabbed, but didn’t find the boy. About 25 minutes after arriving at the home, officers spotted him walking in an alley several blocks away, Whitney said, and took him into custody. He did not resist, nor was he in possession of any weapon.

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The arrested boy was booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of homicide. Scheuer-Souzer died Wednesday night at an area hospital.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office, which declined comment because it is a juvenile case, decides whether a youth is charged.

A juvenile court judge has 72 hours following an arrest to determine if a minor should continue to be detained in a correctional facility, released to family members, or if any charges should be dismissed, said Jennifer Palmquist, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Probation Department, which handles legal matters involving juveniles.

Police have not released a motive for the slaying of Scheuer-Souzer.

However, Eleanor Watson, who is her mother, said in a phone interview Thursday from her home in Salem, Oregon, that police are familiar with her 13-year-old grandson. Last week, he ran away again and entered a home in Garden Grove that had been tented for fumigation, she said.

Alerted by the home’s burglar alarm, police arrested him and booked him into Juvenile Hall. Earlier this week, a judge placed him on house arrest.

“I didn’t trust him to obey the law,” Watson said. “I wanted him in custody. He has a temper and was volatile.”

Her grandson, she added, sometimes clashed with Scheuer-Souzer, usually over chores.

“When he was home he wanted to skirt the issues, but Barb laid the law down,” Watson said. “He threatened her but never hurt her, as far I know.”

Even though their relationship at times was strained, Scheuer-Souzer remained a caring mother. “Everything she did, she did it for him,” said Watson. “She would move mountains if it would help him.”

Despite having autism, Watson said her grandson is high-functioning and a good student who “knows right from wrong.”

“I don’t know how all this happened,” she added. “I am beside myself and can’t even think straight. This is my worst nightmare.”

Scheuer-Souzer, who is divorced, is survived by two adult sons and a daughter. According to her Facebook page, she was engaged to a local firefighter.