Anaheim man convicted of beating his mom to death with a baseball bat

Seth Allen White, a 24-year-old man, was convicted Thursday, Feb. 16 of using a baseball bat to beat to death his 59-year-old mother, Karen Patrice White, who was a veteran state Department of Corrections officer, with a baseball bat in Anaheim.

White is facing 16 years to life in prison when he is scheduled to be sentenced on April 20. He was convicted of second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. Jurors, who rejected a charge of first-degree murder, deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours.

The Anaheim Police were called at about 8:45 p.m. the night of the beating, on May 23, 2017, when neighbors reported “screams and horrible things” coming from the residence at 5810 E. La Palma Ave. in the Friendly Village Mobile Home Park, according to Senior Deputy OCDA Dave Porter.

Neighbors told the Anaheim police that they saw the defendant leaving the home with a baseball bat and he then to drive away in a minivan but he ended up jumping on a skateboard and rolling away when the minivan would not start. One neighbor reported hearing three to eight “loud thumps” coming from the residence.

Porter also referenced a short video recorded on Whites cell phone with a close-up of his mother’s face as she lay unconscious. In the video he is heard saying, “Sleepy time she comes.”

The defendant’s ex-girlfriend said White called her, saying he had attacked “Karen,” according to Porter. White also sent text messages to his friends stating that he had killed his mother. He also sent a text message on May 8, 2017 to another friend noting that he wanted to kill his mother.

White’s mother was in a coma for 11 months after the beating and she died on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018.