Boyfriend charged in coed's homicide
MILLERSVILLE — The boyfriend of a college freshman found dead in her dorm room was charged Monday with homicide after an autopsy found she had been severely beaten and strangled, during a struggle in which a prosecutor said she “fought for her life.”
Police officers responding to a 911 call early Sunday from the boyfriend, Gregorio Orrostieta, 19, said they found him trying to administer CPR to Karlie Hall, 18, his own face, hands and jeans smeared with blood, his shirt ripped, his chest scratched and his forehead cut, a police affidavit said.
Authorities believe the CPR was “completely fake,” and that Hall had been dead for hours when Orrostieta called them to Millersville University, saying the young woman had suffered a heart attack, said Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman.
Questioned by police, Orrostieta said he shoved Hall, causing her to fall and hit her head on a chair, and then gave her a “back hand” to the face, the affidavit said. But he made no mention of choking her.
“He's responsible and we're going to hold him accountable,” Stedman told a news conference. “She fought for her life.” The dorm's video surveillance confirmed that no one else entered or left the room during the time when a struggle was heard in the dorm room.
The couple, both from the Philadelphia suburbs, had been dating about 11 months.
Orrostieta is from Kennett Square and is not a Millersville student. He was being held without bail. The prosecutor said he did not have a lawyer on record, and no one answered the door at his residence Monday afternoon.
Orrostieta told police that he and Hall, 18, of Chadds Ford had argued at a party Saturday night and she had hit him, the affidavit said. They made up before returning to the dorm at around 1:30 a.m. and arguing again, the affidavit said. Stedman declined to say if there was a history of abuse.
Stedman said witnesses reported hearing yelling and the sound of furniture moving between 2 and 2:30 a.m., about the time authorities believe Hall was killed.
The dorm's resident assistant knocked on the door, but no one answered and no further sound was heard, authorities said. Police found Hall unresponsive when they arrived at Bard Hall after getting the 911 call at about 5 a.m., authorities said.
Asked about the resident assistant not calling police, Stedman said: “They're not criminal investigators. Their responsibility is ... to make sure there's no more disturbances going on.”
“It's something that we'll look at,” he said while adding: “I don't want in any way anybody taking out of this press conference today that anybody's responsible for her death other than the defendant who's charged.”
