Pregnant woman fatally strangled in East Germantown, alleged killer in custody [Updated]
A pregnant 24-year-old East Germantown woman was found strangled to death inside a tiny East Chelten Avenue apartment Monday afternoon, and a man who resided at the same residence was taken into custody.
A police spokeswoman said the victim, Atiya Perry, was discovered around 2:30 p.m. by probation agents who arrived at the scene for a routine check of the suspect, whose name has not yet been publicly released.
Investigators then determined that Perry had been killed on Sunday but wasn’t discovered until a day later inside a one-room efficiency apartment on the 800 block of E. Chelten Ave., police said.
The suspect, 28-year-old Roysce Haynes, was taken into custody at the scene. He was charged Tuesday with murder, homicide of an unborn child and abuse of a corpse.
Police said they believe an argument led to the killing. A police spokeswoman did not know how far along into the pregnancy the victim was.
In 2011, Haynes pleaded guilty to simple assault and was given 18 months probation, according to court records that stated aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person charges were withdrawn.
Seven years earlier, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to up to 23 months incarceration and two years probation, court records also stated.
Haynes is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 26.
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