INVERNESS, Fla. — The son of a former Citrus County school teacher is now facing charges in her death.

According to Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast, the arrest and charges follow an exhaustive investigation.

“This case involved more than nine weeks of intense investigation that challenged our detectives to look deep into digital forensic evidence unlike any other homicide of past right now,” Prendergast said.

Prendergast spoke on the investigation in a video statement released last night. On Tuesday, Prendergast described his own encounter with the suspect during the arrest.

“When I was with him last night, when we were walking him out to put him in a patrol car so that Deputy Russ Howard could take him off to the jail, he expressed no remorse whatsoever,” he said.

We are not identifying Denise Hallowell’s son in accordance with our crime guidelines.

He is under 18, and although likely, it’s unclear right now he will be charged as an adult.

Previous run-in with Sheriff's Office

The Citrus Sheriff’s Office said Hallowell’s son reported her murder early in the evening on July 13.

He said he was sleeping at the time and woke up to find his mother’s body. But investigators say deeply hidden digital evidence told a much different story.

The sheriff’s office has not released what exactly it uncovered.

The Hallowells were no strangers to the Citrus Sheriff’s office. In 2015, Denise Hallowell was arrested, accused of child abuse.

Investigators said a 12-year-old child reported that he was locked in his room for long stretches, beaten and made to clean the house naked.  

The charges against Hallowell were eventually dropped, and the sheriff’s office is not saying if the accusations involved the boy now charged with pre-meditated first-degree murder.

The sheriff’s office says its detectives are still working the case to uncover more evidence.

“We just cannot fathom for the life of us how someone could murder their own mother in cold blood,” Prendergast said.

It’s primary goal was to make an arrest and now will work with prosecutors to secure a conviction.

“I have never seen the type of murder of someone who is a family member like I’ve seen from the evidence we collected that evening," the sheriff added. "Never in my lifetime.”