But was it murder?

Nero didn’t fiddle while Rome burned, but what other villainous acts did he commit, according to myth? Well, of course, he murdered his mother. In fact, she had made several attempts on his life and had tried to overthrow him when her influence over him waned. With every lawyer and judge in her pocket she was beyond the law, but Nero’s Commander of the Fleet devised a plan to drown her, by staging a shipwreck. Her time spent in exile, diving for pearls, stood her well and she was able to swim to shore. She despatched an assassin to the Palace, but he was caught, and Guards were sent to arrest her, with instructions to execute her should she resist. She asked that she be stabbed through the womb. When Nero learned of her death, he remained insensible with grief for several days.

Nero - The Last Caesar