PALMERTON -- Lisa Caplan was arraigned at a magistrate's in Weatherly on a charge of criminal homicide.
Caplan claims her mother was attacking her so she needed to kill her with a crossbow.
"She was attacking me, telling me she was going to kill me. I didn't shoot her," said Caplan.
She's accused of killing her mother, Sandra Barndt, 71, with a crossbow.
Investigators say the murder happened Wednesday night at the family's home: 716 First Street in Palmerton.
"It's shocking, shocking. I came home from work and couldn't believe all these cop cars sitting around my house," said Joseph Frey.
State police say Caplan had an argument with her mother, got a crossbow, shot her in the neck, reloaded, shot her in the face, then went to bed.
It was two days later when police were called to check on Barndt's welfare that they found her dead.
Neighbors say Caplan behaved oddly.
One neighbor took video of her walking around the neighborhood and says she frequently carried a large shovel.
Other neighbors told WNEP the same thing.
"She was kind of strange, to say the least. She would walk around with a shovel sometimes. Real eccentric behavior but they were quiet. They kept to themselves," said Matthew Koch.
Some people didn't want their faces on camera but also spoke of Caplan's odd behavior.
"This girl has been wandering around, been a little strange, and I'm thinking she's either on something or she needs help and somebody is not realizing something and I've only been here for two years but I've seen it," said a neighbor.
"I've heard the neighbor say she's been carrying around a crossbow and an arrow for the past week," said another neighbor.
"We've never had a conversation before and anything like this, regardless of someone's personality, it's always surprising," said a neighbor.
State police say Caplan admitted to the crime.
She is locked up without bail.