Victim discovered by deputies before Vista standoff was suspect’s mother

SWAT personnel crowd around the suspect in the driveway while other members of the unit enter the Vista home following the April standoff Photo courtesy of OnScene TV Executives on Tuesday distributed the name of a victim held to have been killed by her son who then allegedly holed up in her Vista home Deputies had been called in to check on Mireya Pope late Wednesday morning They uncovered her dead at the home in the block of North Citrus Avenue Though the San Diego County Sheriff s Office initially explained that Pope s body bore obvious signs of trauma leaders did not release a cause of death During a search of the home that followed their discovery of Pope s body deputies determined that her son Malcolm Morey Pope was inside a bedroom He allegedly ignored repeated orders to surrender and a SWAT group was summoned The standoff stretched into the early evening before deputies took the suspect into custody Agents booked him into county jail on a first-degree murder charge The Sheriff s Office explained that the motive and circumstances of the crime remain under research but added that there are no outstanding subjects Malcolm Pope is being held without bail He pleaded not guilty along with an allegation of using a knife in his mother s killing A criminal complaint alleges the victim died on either the day of the standoff or the day before He is next set to appear in court May According to OnScene TV another matter occurred at the same home also involving an alleged attack upon a mother The suspect allegedly assaulted the woman and dragged her in the street City News Utility contributed to this description