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Man allegedly cuts up mom, stuffs her body parts in freezer

A Southern California teenager who told police he butchered his mother and put her cut-up parts in their freezer is being held without bail.
Image: Moises Meraz-Espinoza
Moises Meraz-Espinoza, shown in a booking photo from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, was arrested after he told police he killed his mother and put her cut-up remains in a freezer in their Maywood, Calif., apartment, authorities say.L.A. County Sheriff via AP
/ Source: msnbc.com staff and news service reports

A Southern California teenager who told police he butchered his mother and put her cut-up parts in their freezer is being held without bail.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators say Moises Meraz-Espinoza, 18, of Maywood walked into the nearby Huntington Park police station Saturday and confessed to an officer, NBC station KNBC reported.

The Sheriff's Department, which provides police services to Maywood, confirmed dismembered body parts were found in the freezer at the apartment that neighbors said Meraz-Espinoza shared with his mother.

Meraz-Espinoza was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail.

Family and neighbors said Meraz-Espinoza had been depressed and was acting strangely since his girlfriend was fatally struck by a car four months ago, TV station KTLA said.

"He was very quiet ... he was a nice guy, but he was hanging around with the wrong people ... like his girlfriend died and he started going crazy," said Joe Perez, a neighbor, told KTLA.

Neighbors told KTLA that they hadn't heard from Meraz-Espinoza's mother since Monday.