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Chadds Ford student dead, boyfriend arrested

A Kennett Square man was charged Monday with strangling and beating his girlfriend in her Millersville University dorm room early Sunday.

Gregorio Orrostieta (right) from Kennett Square was charged Monday with strangling and beating his girlfriend, Karlie Hall, to death in her Millersville University dorm room early Sunday morning.
Gregorio Orrostieta (right) from Kennett Square was charged Monday with strangling and beating his girlfriend, Karlie Hall, to death in her Millersville University dorm room early Sunday morning.Read more

A Kennett Square man was charged Monday with strangling and beating his girlfriend in her Millersville University dorm room early Sunday.

Karlie Hall, 18, of Chadds Ford, was found dead in her room Sunday, police said, after a fight with Gregorio Orrostieta, 19. Orrostieta was charged with criminal homicide Monday afternoon in Lancaster County.

An autopsy showed Hall, a freshman, died of strangulation and multiple traumatic injuries, county District Attorney Craig Stedman said at a news conference Monday.

Prosecutors think Orrostieta waited for hours after Hall's death before calling 911 and faked attempts at CPR on Hall when emergency responders arrived, Stedman said.

On Monday, students left flowers at a statue of the Millersville Marauder mascot in Hall's honor.

It is the first on-campus homicide in university history, said Janet Kacskos, the school's director of communications.

"We're quite a rural campus. Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen here," Kacskos said.

Hall was found unresponsive in her room in Bard Hall around 5 a.m. Sunday by emergency personnel responding to Orrostieta's call.

Orrostieta, a 2014 graduate of Kennett Consolidated High School who is not a Millersville student, told officers he had shoved Hall, causing her to fall to the ground and hit her head on a chair. He then gave her a "back hand" to her face, and she became unresponsive, according to the affidavit.

The couple had gone to Hall's dorm room early Sunday after arguing at a party. Residents heard a commotion, and the hall's resident assistant knocked on the door around 2:30 a.m., Stedman said. No one answered.

Orrostieta was smeared with blood when police arrived a few hours later, according to the criminal complaint.

He was held by police on a charge of aggravated assault, a count that was replaced by homicide, said Assistant District Attorney Christopher Lechner.

Orrostieta will be held in the Lancaster County Prison without bail pending a preliminary hearing, Stedman said.

The couple had been dating for about 11 months, Stedman said Orrostieta told police.

Stedman said the domestic violence case is "far from over," and his office plans to investigate the couple's history.

Kenn Marshall, spokesman for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, said this was only the second time in the last decade that a student died as the result of violence on a state college campus.

The other was the 2012 death of Kutztown University student Christine McGhee of Bucks County, who was dragged from her ex-boyfriend's pickup truck.

Counseling staff will be available to Millersville students all week. Therapy dogs will also be on campus Monday night, Kacskos said.

"Our university community has suffered an unfathomable loss," Millersville president John Anderson wrote in a message to students and staff. "I ask that you join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to Karlie's family and friends."

Hall's family has asked for privacy, Stedman said.

Hall was a business administration major with a concentration in management, Kacskos said.

Hall graduated from Unionville High School in June 2014. She was hardworking and a good sister to her twin, Kristen, said principal Paula Massanari.

"The thing that always struck me was that I always saw her as a really devoted sister. You rarely saw one without the other," Massanari said.

Hall was part of the rugby club, volunteered at a local animal shelter, and held a part-time job to save for college, Massanari said.

Her Chadds Ford home is near the border of Delaware and Chester Counties. She listed Kennett Square as her hometown on her Facebook profile.

Hall's older sister and mother both graduated from Unionville as well, Massanari said.

"Their ties to this community run deep, and the school is devastated, obviously, by what happened to her," Massanari said.

A vigil was scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday outside the Student Memorial Center on the Millersville campus.

@McDanielJustine