Martin County - Wednesday January 4, 2023: Martin County Sheriff Deputies arrested 34 year old Darren Keith Pouncey last Saturday morning in connection with the apparent beating death of his mother.
A next door neighbor called the Sheriff's Office after the neighbor got no response trying to reach Pouncey's mother.
When Deputies arrived at the Port Salerno home they found Pouncey sitting in a chair on the back porch with the neighbor standing beside him. Pouncey's hands were swollen and bleeding, according to the Field Case Report. Blood droplets were also seen on the concert floor of the screen porch, and there were blood smears on the vertical blinds and on the door handles. The drywall near the master bedroom light switches appeared to have been punched.
Inside the bedroom they found Pouncey's mother, 58 year old Christina Ruth Diorio, laying dead on the carpeted floor face up. Her upper lip and face appeared swollen, and her nose was full of blood, and her face seemed discolored. She had no pulse.
Pouncey was taken into custody without incident. He was initially charged with a pretrial release violation. On Tuesday he was charged with second-degree murder, a charge which implies the killing was not pre-meditated.