Preliminary hearing postponed for Roxborough woman charged with murdering 70-year-old roommate

A Roxborough woman facing murder charges after allegedly killing her 70-year-old roommate is now set to appear in Municipal Court on July 31.

Geraldine Cherry, 50, was scheduled to appear today for her preliminary hearing, but was unable to after being hospitalized following a series a seizures. She is slated to return for a status hearing if her health improves.

On June 20, Cherry was arrested and charged for the murder of Kathleen McEwan, according to police. The pair lived together in an apartment complex on the 300 block of Parker Avenue.

McEwan’s body was initially discovered 10 days before. Believed to have died of natural causes, she was taken to a suburban funeral home. But upon examination, an employee shockingly discovered a series of items in McEwan’s throat, including a thin piece of rope and a candy wrapper, which led to the homicide charge.

“I thought it was a simple choking and I was definitely proven wrong,” Brian Hurst, funeral director at John J. Bryers Funeral Home Inc. told NewsWorks the day after Cherry, who is reportedly blind, was arrested.

The city’s Medical Examiner ultimately determined that McEwan died from asphyxia.