VERO BEACH — A man who secretly buried his mother in their back yard to cover up her death will be serving 20 years in state prison for second-degree murder, court files show.

In mid-2008, Vero Lake Estates resident Kelly Smith, 38, argued with his mother, Lynn Schuler, 59, over his unemployment.

He shoved. She fell, causing injuries the already-ailing woman died of several hours later on the living room floor in the home in the 7900 block of 96th Court west of Sebastian.

The next night he buried her 6 six feet deep in the ground — without alerting anyone.

When officers arrested him three days later, he said he had gone off to party for two days but eventually planned to turn himself him.

On Feb. 27, Circuit Judge Robert Hawley sentenced Smith to 20 years in state prison followed by 18 months’ probation. Hawley took into consideration Smith’s criminal record including convictions for cocaine possession, battery, grand theft and driving with a suspended license.

Smith didn’t speak during the sentencing attended by relatives. He is in the Indian River County jail pending his transfer to state prison.

His mother was a widow who helped take care of landscaping around Disney’s Vero Beach Resort on Orchid Island. Her husband died of an illness four years ago.

Smith went through ninth grade in school. His last job was laying tile.

The afternoon of Sunday, May 18, 2008, mother and son were watching television at home alone when an argument over his not working led to her spitting on him, sheriff’s reports show.

With both hands, he shoved her chest. She hit a coffee table and wall and was unconscious. Smith detected a faint pulse but never called for help. “He let her lay on the floor for several hours” until she died, reports show.

Finally he put her in her bed and he went to sleep. The next day he left about 11 a.m. driving his mother’s 2000 Chevy Blazer, a car she never let him drive. Neighbors became suspicious.

Deputies cornered Smith when they spotted the car in a Vero Beach parking lot. Under questioning, he told of fighting with his mother and eventually working three hours after midnight digging a hole deep enough to bury her.

By Elliott Jones, TCPalm.com

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