Yuma murder suspect says he thought mother was Satan

The Yuma man arrested for allegedly strangling his mother to death told police he thought she was Satan, according to court records.

Michael Anthony Allen, 21, was arraigned Tuesday in Yuma Justice Court, where he was charged with one count first-degree murder per domestic violence. The body of Cynthia Allen, 47, was discovered by Yuma police at a residence in the 400 block of South 2nd Avenue on Saturday.

Yuma Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart ordered that Allen be held on $2 million cash-only bond. Unlike paying a percentage of the amount through a bail bond company, the full amount must be paid in cash in order to be released from custody.

Court records indicate that Allen went to the home of someone he knew at about 4 a.m. Saturday and told them he may have killed his mother. That person called someone else and asked them to go to Allen's home and check on his mother.

According to court records, when that person arrived at Allen's home he saw a broken window and called Yuma police. Once inside, they found the body of Cynthia Allen lying in the floor of the living room. She had signs of trauma to her face and neck.

During Tuesday's hearing, prosecutor William Katz told the court that Allen had made a series of incriminating statements about the murder while being interviewed by police. Katz would not elaborate, but he told the court that Allen had confessed to the murder.

Stewart assigned the Yuma County Public Defender's Office to represent Allen and set his next court date, a preliminary hearing, for Dec. 13 at 4 p.m.

According to his Facebook and MySpace pages, Allen is from the Sacramento, Calif., and has worked for the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs as a wildland firefighter since March 2009. He once had aspirations of joining the Marine Corps to work in the explosive ordnance disposal field.

On a Facebook post created Nov. 18 at 3:57 p.m., Allen wrote, “Fathers are the jack of all trades and well mothers know best.”

Also according to his Facebook page, Allen expected to spend time in jail for unspecified circumstances after court proceedings on Nov. 22, but ended up not serving any time.

Yuma police ask anyone with information about this case to call 783-4421, or 78-CRIME to remain anonymous.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.