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EAST SPENCER, N.C. -- Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the beating death of an East Spencer grandmother.

Rowan County detectives have charged Gary A. Cureton, 55, with the murder of Joan Marie Lark, his ex-girlfriend. He's also been charged with first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Gary Andrew Cureton

Lark takes care of her six grandchildren, who were inside the house on Spencer Street when she was killed Friday morning. The oldest grandchild, who was 14-years-old, found Lark when he came downstairs to start getting ready for school.

A neighbor said the children came to their door about 6 a.m. to report that someone had killed their grandmother and to call for help.

Family members said Lark was beaten to death with a baseball bat by an ex-boyfriend who had threatened to kill her in the past.

"It just didn't seem real to me, but I tell you he killed my baby," said Lark's mother, Kathleen Chambers Hill.

Hill watched in disbelief from the roadside as paramedics brought her daughter's body out from her own home.

Family and friends said the couple had problems before, but never expected anything like this to happen. East Spencer Police confirmed they did respond to a call at this house for a domestic call New Year's Eve, but wouldn't elaborate any further.

Deputies found Cureton at a residence on Concord Lake Road in Kannapolis at about 1:30 p.m. During the booking process, Cureton complained of medical problems and was taken to a hospital for treatment.