Man Allegedly Kills Stepdad, Posts Selfie with Body and Tells Witness, 'I Told You I Would Do It'

A history of domestic disputes ended when a Maryland man allegedly murdered his stepfather last week and then posted a selfie with his body on Twitter, according to police and court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

The Prince George County, Maryland, police said that 38-year-old Navar Beverly was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree murder after his stepfather, 65-year-old Ronald Pinkney, was found dead Saturday morning in his home in Bowie, Maryland.

According to the medical examiner, Pinkney was fatally asphyxiated, police said.

Authorities alleged in court documents that on Friday night, Beverly posted a photo of himself with Pinkey’s body on Twitter. (The picture has seen been removed.)

Pinkney’s wife discovered him dead on Saturday morning and called 911, according to the court documents.

She told investigators that before Beverly fled the scene, he allegedly said to her, “I told you I would do it” — in reference to killing Pinkney — the documents state.

Prince George police said in a news release that Beverly and Pinkey had “a history of disputes, both verbal and physical.”

Officers arrived on the scene on Saturday shortly after Beverly left, according to police. They spotted Beverly later Saturday driving not far from the scene and took him into custody following a brief car and foot chase.

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In a statement to PEOPLE, the Prince George police chief linked Beverly’s alleged crime to attention-seeking and dissociation that he said was caused by social media.

“We are in a period of time where people have unprecedented ease of access to a global media platform,” Chief Hank Stawinski said. “As social media platforms explode, people are beginning to divorce themselves from the reality of events that they see on social media and that leads some, unfortunately, to do what has happened here.”

Stawinski continued, “There is an inherent danger if you access it, you like it, retweet it, that you are going to encourage more people out there who are desperate for attention to go out there and get it.”

Efforts to reach Pinkey’s family were not successful, but a neighbor remembered him as friendly and generous and his relatives reportedly described him as a “really good guy.”

“I just talked to him last night right after he had mowed the lawn,” neighbor Mike Gonzaludo told local TV station WUSA.

“If he saw trash, he would pick it up. Or if you were a stranger, he’d say hi,” Gonzaludo said. “He looked out for everybody.”

Beverly appeared in court on Monday and remains in custody without bond. He has not entered a plea and will next appear in court on Oct. 2.

He will appear in court the day after that on a second-degree assault charge in connection with a February altercation with Pinkey in which he allegedly placed the older man in a choke hold until a witness intervened, court documents show.

Beverly is being represented by the Maryland public defender, whose office was not immediately available for comment.