Dead mom found in a South Beach dumpster was nearly decapitated, police say
A woman who police say was killed by her son and stuffed into a trash chute inside a South Beach apartment was nearly decapitated when officers found her body, court records show.
At around 9:20 p.m. Saturday, Miami Beach police responded to an apartment at 800 Washington Ave., the home of 40-year-old Anthony Rosario Caruso, according to an arrest report obtained by the Miami Herald on Monday.
Officers were called for a welfare check on his mother, 67-year-old Elizabeth Caruso, who had traveled from New Jersey to visit her son. Her son-in-law had phoned officers after not hearing from her for more than six hours, the report says.
Anthony Caruso, now accused of his mother’s killing, is facing a second-degree murder charge, court records indicate.
MORE: Woman found dead inside dumpster in South Beach. Her son is in custody, cops say
When police arrived, they found a trail of blood from the front door of the apartment to the trash room, located across from Caruso’s apartment. The trash room’s walls had blood smeared on it, and a pool formed near the chute, according to the report.
Investigators found Elizabeth Caruso’s body in the complex’s dumpster after they entered the locked, first-floor room where the chute ends. During an autopsy, the medical examiner’s office found her neck “severely injured nearly to the point of decapitation” and bone fractures to her arms, face, hands and head.
Caruso barricaded himself inside the apartment, which led to Miami Beach hostage negotiation officers and a SWAT team responding to the scene, the report says. Officers used a stun gun on Caruso, and a police dog bit his right arm. He was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center and treated for his injuries before police attempted to interview him.
At the time of Caruso’s arrest, officers did not find a weapon. How is mother was killed hasn’t been released.
Caruso was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Sunday night, where he remains. His bond hearing, slated for Monday morning, was rescheduled after Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer noted Caruso’s arrest report didn’t explicitly indicate that he killed his mother, reported Miami Herald news partner CBS4.
“Reset it in the afternoon for a probable cause hearing to see if he is in fact the person who killed his mother,” she said, according to CBS4.
Jail records show Caruso is being held without bond as of Monday afternoon.
Mental health issues?
On Sunday, Miami Beach police said Anthony Caruso had a documented history of mental health issues. And he was no stranger to the criminal justice system, Miami-Dade circuit court records show.
In 2024, he was accused of assault, battery and criminal mischief — charges that stemmed from three separate incidents.
In May 2024, Caruso kicked and punched a Miami police officer after she attempted to subdue him with a stun gun, according to his arrest form.
Last July, he threatened to hit a runner on his morning jog in Miami Beach with a large hammer “if he did not get away,” court records show. And in August, he set on fire the patio area of a restaurant at 1737 N. Bayshore Dr., according to a police report. The blaze caused $5,000 in damage.
He was put on probation in December for three years in relation to those cases. Florida prison records list him as being under supervision until December 2027.
This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 12:09 PM.
