DALLAS (AP) _ The mother of a man who fell to his death from a crane after a 14-hour standoff with police said she was not surprised to learn of her son’s death.
Lee Dell Thomas Jr., the 44-year-old son of Ollie Mae Thomas, fell about 150 feet to his death early Tuesday after the standoff on the Southern Methodist University campus.
A woman who answered a telephone number that was listed to the mother told The Associated Press that she wasn’t available to comment.
But Ollie Mae Thomas told KTVT-TV of Fort Worth and Dallas that her son — and her family — had a history of mental illness.
She said Lee Dell Thomas’ grandfather committed suicide and his father was a paranoid schizophrenic. She also said her son began using drugs at an early age.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)