Originally published in The New York Times.

Teenager Is Held in India After His Mother Is Killed

By DANIEL LOVERING
Published: August 16, 2010

CECIL, Pa. — A teenage boy from Pennsylvania was being held in a juvenile center in India on Monday, awaiting a hearing after being accused of murdering his mother last week as they were vacationing at a luxury resort, according to news media reports in India.

The teenager, Joncarlo Patton, who was a freshman at South Fayette High School last year, is accused of slitting his mother’s throat after an argument at a resort in Osian, in Rajasthan State, according to The Times of India, which quoted the police. He was arrested Saturday.

His mother, identified as Cindy Iannarelli, 51, was an international business consultant based here, a town about 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.

“She was our host, our professor,” said Georgiana Riley, of Avella, Pa., who became friends with Dr. Iannarelli while participating in a two-week course Dr. Iannarelli organized for female business owners to travel to Italy and meet with small-town businesspeople, politicians and bankers. “She was probably one of the most energetic people I’ve ever met. Happy all the time, just inspiring to be around.”

Dr. Iannarelli was divorced from Mr. Patton’s father. A police superintendent in India said Mr. Patton told the police that he was traumatized by his parents’ divorce and wanted them to reconcile, The Associated Press reported.

Ms. Riley said she got to know Mr. Patton in recent years. “He’s just a wonderful kid,” she said, adding that he spoke four languages, including Italian.

Ms. Riley said she believed that Mr. Patton divided his time between Italy and the United States. “Wherever she was, he was,” Ms. Riley said.

George Khoury was Dr. Iannarelli’s chiropractor and became her first tenant, about 15 years ago, in a business plaza she owns in Cecil, Pa. She developed an online school for family business owners, Bernelli University, he said.

Mr. Khoury said he knew Mr. Patton when he was a child.

“He was a kind of quiet kid from what I remember, and he really started to develop into having a lot more friends as he went into high school and on the track team and basically became a lot more popular that way,” he said.

Mr. Khoury said he was called to testify in Ms. Iannarelli’s divorce proceedings about eight years ago. He declined to provide details, citing legal restrictions, saying only that Mr. Patton — an only child — had also been called to testify and that such an experience was “tough on a kid.”

Pending the police investigation, Mr. Patton was to face charges under Indian law unless officials in the United States seek his return.

A version of this article appeared in print on August 17, 2010, on page A16 of the New York edition.