Man, 71, charged with strangling woman in Franklin Township
Officers tried to save the victim but she was later removed from life support and declared dead Friday.
A 71-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder in the strangulation of a 40-year-old woman in Franklin Township, Gloucester County Prosecutor Andrew B. Johns said Monday.
Police arrived at an East Avenue home at 6:16 a.m. on Thursday after Dennis J. Hall called to alert them to the fact that Devin Hall was not breathing. Dennis Hall admitted to strangling her on the call to emergency services and to officers when they arrived at the scene, according to a statement from the prosecutor’s office.
A witness also told Franklin Township officers Dennis Hall woke them up the morning of the incident and admitted to strangling Devin Hall.
Prosecutors would not say whether the two Halls were related, but Jan Hall, the wife of Dennis Hall and mother of Devin Hall, told 6abc her husband woke her up, saying he had killed their daughter.
“When he woke me up, I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘I strangled Devin. She’s dead.’ And I thought I didn’t hear him right,” she told the station.
Officers tried to save Devin Hall and she was taken to a local hospital. The following day, she was removed from life support and declared dead, according to the statement.
On Sunday, the Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland regional medical examiner conducted an autopsy and determined the cause of death was asphyxiation by homicide.
Dennis Hall was arrested at the scene and initially charged with attempted murder, then first-degree murder following the autopsy report.
He was in jail pending prosecutors’ motion for a pretrial detention. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
