Paxton Man Found Dead, Brother Charged With Assault And Battery

PAXTON (CBS) -- A Paxton man is being held without bail after he was arraigned on charges related to his brother's death, the Worcester County District Attorney announced Monday.

Twenty-four-year-old Alexander Asia was charged with two counts of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury.

Innocent Asia, 23, was found dead in the Monticello Drive home they shared. The mother of the two men, 53-year-old Leticia Asia, was injured and showed up at a neighbor's house.

MJ Byrnes, the neighbor who made the 911 call, can't imagine why this happened. She says there were no warning signs, no indication that something was horribly wrong at 19 Monticello Drive where the Asia family had lived for more than two years.

"Just lovely, unremarkable, lovely neighbors, great children, very cordial, very social," said Byrnes.

Which is why the events of Sunday night were a shock. MJ Byrnes says she and her sister were home when Leticia Asia came ringing their doorbell frantically. When MJ's sister opened the door, she saw the woman's face badly wounded.

"The mother had stated that her son was trying to kill the family with a hammer," Byrnes said.

An autopsy for Innocent Asia will be conducted to determine the cause and manner of death.

A dangerousness hearing for Alexander Asia was scheduled for Dec. 10.