THOMASVILLE — A murder warrant has been issued in the Friday death of an elderly woman whose throat was slit in late March.

Charles Singletary Jr., 32, is charged with malice murder in the death of Carrie Yarborough, 79, who died at a Valdosta nursing home a little before 1 a.m. Friday.

The warrant shows Singletary “intentionally, willfully and with malice aforethought” caused Yarborough’s death.

Singletary has been held — without bond — at the Thomas County Jail since shortly after the March 24 attack at Yarborough’s 289 Sanford Heights home. Singletary was a neighbor.

In addition to her throat being slit, Yarborough sustained severe head injuries and broken bones. A butcher knife and a cane were among the weapons used in the attack.

The victim attempted to call for help during the attack. The call — and tortured cries for mercy — were recorded.

Yarborough, drenched in blood, was found on the kitchen floor. Her checkbook and a cordless phone were missing from her house.

Malice murder carries a penalty of life in prison, life without parole or death.

“We’re waiting to receive the case files from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Thomas County Sheriff’s Department,” said Jim Hardy, Southern Judicial Circuit chief assistant district attorney.

The autopsy report, along with other laboratory documents, also will be considered.

“We’ll look at the law and see where we need to go,” Hardy said.

Yarborough, a Decatur County native, had lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., for more than 50 years. She and her late husband owned and operated a candy store.

Yarborough, uneasy about living alone after her husband died, moved to Thomas County several years ago to be near relatives.

A Brooklyn neighbor was to pick Yarborough up in early July for a visit of several weeks in the friend’s hometown of Tuskegee, Ala.

Yarborough was to return to the New York burg with the friend for a two-week visit. Family members said she was saving money to pay for the journey.

The money was not found after the attack that proved fatal three months and a day later.

Yarborough’s funeral is today.