Indiana man held in hospital stabbing of his 80-year-old mother

(Reuters) - The son of an 80-year-old woman who was stabbed to death at a northwest Indiana hospital last week has been charged with her murder, news media reported on Sunday.

Rodney Louis Dickinson, 60, was arrested after the Friday afternoon stabbing at the Methodist Hospital in Merrillville, Indiana, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana, CBS Chicago and NBC, quoting police sources.

Local police departments would not comment on the reports and the Lake County, Indiana, District Attorney did not return calls from Reuters on Sunday.

Margarine Haywood was found in her hospital room with multiple stab wounds and her husband, 88-year-old James Haywood, was discovered stabbed to death shortly after at the couple's home in the nearby city of Gary, Indiana.

Dickinson has not been charged with his father's death, the newspaper reported.

Police were called to the hospital on reports of an assault on a patient, Merrillville police said. Upon arrival, officers found hospital staffers tending to Hayward, who had been severely wounded.

The hospital was placed on lockdown while police searched for a suspect.

Police then went to the Hayward's home, forced entry and found her deceased husband.

A suspect was later found at a separate Gary residence and taken into custody, but police did not release the man's identity at the time.

A police affidavit said that Dickinson was seen "acting weird" while visiting his mother's hospital room on Friday morning, the newspaper reported.

(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Eric Walsh)

[man holding knife oin Shutterstock]