Man convicted of killing mom taken into custody after O.C. police manhunt

Man convicted of killing mom arrested after going missing from halfway house

According to The Los Angeles Times, Ike Souzer has been apprehended by law enforcement. Souzer is the man convicted of killing his mom when he was 13.

BY ALENE TCHEKMEDYIAN, PAIGE ST. JOHN APRIL 17, 2022 4:47 PM PT

An Orange County man convicted of killing his mom by stabbing her to death in 2017 has been arrested. Law enforcement apprehended Souzer on Sunday. Souzer was on the run after going missing from a Santa Ana halfway house. Souzer is a violent offender and his actions promptd a police manhunt.

Ike Nicholas Souzer, 18, removed his electronic monitoring bracelet Wednesday within hours of being moved to a Santa Ana halfway house. According to a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office Souzer had been released that day. Souzer was released, 15 months early, from the maximum-security Theo Lacy Facility in Orange.

A district attorney spokesperson said Sunday afternoon that Souzer was arrested in Anaheim by the AB 109 task force, which tracks the impact of the state’s prison realignment law.

Freed from an Orange County prison, violent offender prompts manhunt

Souzer was 13 when he killed his mother, Barbara Scheuer-Souzer, 48, outside their home in Garden Grove, stabbing her twice in the stomach. At the time of the killing, he was on home detention with a history of running away and was described by a family member as autistic and volatile. His public defense lawyer claimed Souzer had been abused by his mother, an allegation his grandmother maintains was false.

Souzer in 2019 was convicted of manslaughter in juvenile court, over the objection of prosecutors, who had pressed for murder charges.

Souzer’s sentence was set to be completed in July 2023, but he was released early, with orders to remain under electronic monitoring.

The Orange County probation office alerted other police agencies of Souzer’s disappearance, but the district attorney’s office elevated that to a public warning “because we were so concerned about this case,” said spokeswoman Kimberly Edds.