DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — Nearly two years since 66-year-old Deborah Patterson was stabbed to death in her home, an arraignment hearing has been set for her grandson, the man accused of killing her.

Aaron Michael Brown, 20, allegedly confessed to stabbing his grandmother on June 11, 2021.

The Decatur Police Department went to Patterson’s home on Locust Avenue just after midnight to check on her after getting a call from a concerned woman.

That woman had been on the phone with Patterson around 11:45 p.m., who said that Brown hit her. The woman told police Brown could be heard in the background of the call “talking loud.”

When officers arrived, they found Patterson dead, with “what appeared to be stab wounds.” Court documents say she was stabbed with a “sharp instrument,” but investigators did not detail if it was a knife or another object.

Brown was nowhere to be found inside the home, but officers searched the area and found him walking just a few blocks away. Court records said he had blood on his shorts and his arm, along with a cut on his right thumb and another on his forehead.

He was detained and later gave a statement after his rights were read, where court documents say he “made a spontaneous [utterance] that he killed her.”

Brown’s family spoke to News 19 a few days after he was arrested, saying he had been struggling with mental health issues prior to the murder.

Court records show that a mental evaluation was scheduled earlier in the case.

While an arraignment hearing is scheduled for April 18, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said he has been released from custody.