The 79-year-old victim was attacked inside his Murdock Road apartment after leaving a Food Lion, police said.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A 36-year-old woman is accused of following a 79-year-old man home from a Charlotte grocery store, forcing her way into his apartment, strangling him and stealing his money, police said in court records.

The case centers on what police described as a short walk that turned into a violent home invasion. Kayla Rose Bessette was charged with attempted murder, breaking and entering, robbery and assault by strangulation after officers responded May 30 to an apartment in the 1400 block of Murdock Road. Investigators said the victim survived but suffered serious injuries. The attack drew added attention because police said Bessette later admitted key parts of the assault and showed no regret when asked about her intent.

The victim told Charlotte-Mecklenburg police he had been walking home from the Food Lion at 3009 The Plaza when a woman approached him and asked for money. The grocery store sits in east Charlotte, a short distance from the Murdock Road apartment listed in the court filing. According to the probable cause affidavit, the man noticed the woman continuing behind him as he made his way home. When he reached his front door, he tried to close it. Police said Bessette forced her way inside before he could shut it, turning the threshold of the apartment into the start of the attack.

Once inside, investigators said, Bessette pushed the man onto his bed, climbed on top of him and began strangling him. The affidavit said she then reached into his pockets, took all of his money and left the apartment. Police have not released the amount of cash taken. They also have not said whether the victim and Bessette knew each other before the encounter. The account in the affidavit presents the case as one that began outside a grocery store, moved through a residential doorway and ended with a robbery report that brought officers to the apartment.

Detectives traced the case back toward the Food Lion after taking the victim’s statement. Police said they found Bessette at a bus stop near the grocery store, where officers observed blood on her hands. Investigators also recovered surveillance video from the Food Lion that they said helped confirm her identity. The records do not say how long after the attack officers located her, what route she took after leaving the apartment or whether any of the stolen money was recovered. Those details could become important later if prosecutors rely on the timing between the store, the apartment and the bus stop.

After her arrest, Bessette was advised of her Miranda rights, according to the affidavit. Police said she admitted breaking into the victim’s home and trying to kill him while stealing his money. The filing said that when Bessette was asked whether her intent was to kill the victim, she did not deny it and “smiled with satisfaction.” Police also wrote that Bessette said several times that she did not regret what she had done and that the victim “deserved it.” The affidavit does not explain why she allegedly made that statement.

The charges filed in Mecklenburg County reflect several parts of the alleged attack. Attempted murder focuses on the state’s claim that Bessette tried to kill the man. Breaking and entering addresses the forced entry into the apartment. Robbery covers the alleged taking of cash by force. Assault by strangulation covers the accusation that she injured the victim by restricting his breathing or blood flow. Under North Carolina law, assault by strangulation is treated as a felony when a person assaults another and causes physical injury by strangulation. The filing did not list a defense response to the allegations.

The case also became linked to a separate investigation in Lincolnton days later. Police there later obtained warrants charging Bessette with first-degree murder and common law robbery in the death of 70-year-old Tony Maddox, who had been reported missing in late May and was found dead in a wooded area on June 2. Authorities said Bessette had already been in Mecklenburg County custody since May 30 on the Charlotte case when the Lincolnton warrants were announced. Officials have not released the full evidence connecting her to Maddox’s death.

In the Charlotte case, Bessette was booked into the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Jail and was held without bond after her arrest, according to reports based on the court record. A court date had been listed for June 16, though later public reports focused on the separate Lincolnton murder warrant. The available records do not show a final outcome in the Murdock Road case. The victim’s name was not released in the initial affidavit, and police did not provide a detailed update on his medical condition beyond reports that he was seriously hurt.

The reported attack left investigators with a timeline tied to several fixed points: the Food Lion on The Plaza, the victim’s apartment on Murdock Road and the bus stop near the grocery store where police said Bessette was found. The affidavit gives a plain account of those movements, but it leaves open questions about motive, the victim’s recovery and what evidence prosecutors will present beyond the victim’s statement, surveillance video and Bessette’s alleged remarks.

The Charlotte case remains part of a broader court picture for Bessette after the later Lincolnton charges. As of July 6, 2026, public reports show she was in custody while authorities in two counties pursued separate violent-crime cases.

Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.