'I heard screaming from my mother': Murdered mother’s young son testifies during trial in Windsor

Windsor, Ont. -

The son of Autumn Taggart testified Tuesday about what happened on June 10, 2018, the night his mother was killed.

Warning: article contains disturbing content.

The first degree murder trial of Jitesh Bhogal, 31, continues in Windsor’s Superior courthouse.

Although not subject to a publication ban, CTV News has decided to not use the boy’s name.

He was nine at the time of his mothers death.

Now 13, the teen told the jury about June 9,2018, the night before his mothers’ death, as well as what happened overnight June 10, 2018.

He testified he went grocery shopping with his parents, who were separated but remained friends, though the boy lived with his mother.

He and his mother played video games, before going to bed that night, although he doesn’t recall what time.

“Some person came into my room,” he told the jury. “And said something. I don’t even recall.”

The boy said it was quiet in the apartment for a while until “I heard screaming from my mother. The screaming lasted for awhile.”

He couldn’t recall how long the screaming lasted, but then it was quiet and he heard nothing else.

The boy said he eventually fell asleep but when he woke up the next morning he couldn’t wake his mother.

“My mother was sleeping. Well, that’s what I thought at first,” he told the jury.

The teen testified he could see blood on his mothers’ mouth and he flipped her over to try to wake her, but doesn’t remember if she was on her back or stomach when he found her.

“She was dead. She was killed,” he testified. “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. I cried.”

The boy said he tried to keep himself busy during the day, by playing video games and watching YouTube but by the evening he said he couldn’t “deal with it” anymore and he got his mothers’ phone and texted his dad.

“I told him mom was dead.”

When asked to describe the person who came into his room, the boy described him as white, skinny with messy hair “like he just got out of bed”.

He said the man came “kinda close” but didn’t actually touch him while he laid in his bed, next door to his mothers room.

The boy said the man was probably in his room for just three seconds.

On cross examination, the teen was asked if he remembered telling police in 2018, he heard the sound of someone vomiting that night.

“I can’t recall hearing it now,” he replied to defence lawyer Maureen Salama, even after reading a transcript of his statement to police.

The teenager told the jury he only spoke with police at headquarters on two other occasions after his mother’s death.

In previous testimony, the jury heard the teen talked to one of the first police officers to arrive on the scene.

A conversation that was not recorded.