Michael Brea has been charged with murder for the gruesome slaying of his mother with a sword. While undergoing psychiatric evaluation, Brea allegedly "told the doctors that he saw the Devil, and that the Devil was somehow in his mother." Police say he was clutching a Bible and a Masonic ceremonial sword when they burst into the apartment and found Yannick Brea dead of multiple stab wounds in the bathroom. Neighbor Sydney Clare told the Daily News, "He yelled, 'The greatest architect in the universe!' He looked crazy."

Neighbors still insist cops could have saved Yannick if they had busted in earlier, and accuse them of hearing Yannicks cries of "Help me!" and not entering. Yannick's older brother said, "To think my sister was inside, crying for her life, and the police that are supposed to be protecting her are standing at the door, it's enough to make me sick." Police commissioner Ray Kelly insists that officers were just following protocol, saying, "What happens in a barricade situation is that responding patrol officers, if possible, wait for the Emergency Services forces to arrive." Brea's family and friends are shocked at the news. His uncle said, "Something happened that made him do it. The Devil entered him." He also said Brea took the sword with him after leaving a Masons meeting on Monday night.

Other neighbors remembered Yannick as a caring woman. "His mother raised [Michael] to be loving," said neighbor Vernal Bent. "She was a wonderful mother. She was always cooking black beans and Creole food. On New Year's [Day], she made this traditional soup that was amazing."