I killed my mom

After a life of abuse, Terry Payton, 16, is charged with murder

CRIME | Patrick Yeagle

By all accounts, Terry Payton is a quiet, shy 16-year-old with a brilliant mind and a penchant for Pokémon. Family, friends and neighbors in the Edgar County community of Paris say Terry is meek, eager to help and never says an ill word against anyone. So it was a shock to them when Terry was arrested for allegedly murdering his mother, Kathie Payton, 53, on June 23.

“He’s a very quiet, gentle, intelligent, well-spoken laddy,” says Terry’s paternal grandmother, Maureen Lye, who flew to Illinois from England with her husband, Terry Lye, as soon as they heard about the incident. Maureen Lye says Terry is a straight-A student and three-time spelling bee winner.

“He’s not like other lads,” she says. “He doesn’t like fighting; there’s no violence in him. That’s what’s so surprising. It’s like we’re in a dream. That’s just not Terry.”

Terry Payton is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE There is a back story to this death, according to people who knew Terry and Kathie Payton. They say Kathie was an abusive alcoholic who constantly beat and humiliated Terry. If Terry did kill his mother, his family says, it was likely in self-defense. Now, Terry’s family, friends and community are rallying around him to provide a level of support they say he never had before.

Terence R. Payton lived with his mother in a Paris public housing development full of small brick duplexes. Terry has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a type of autism characterized by impairment in social interaction and restricted patterns of behavior, interests and activities. Neighbors recall that Kathie seldom left the house, instead sending Terry out to hang laundry, take out the trash and more. Though they rarely saw Kathie, they heard her often.