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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KU1nfo
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2015
PAGE 3
It's never too early to start the job search! Tomorrow's Career Fair is in the Kansas Union ballroom from 1 to 5 p.m. Print some copies of your resume and come network with potential employers
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some copies of your resume and come network with potential employers.
Boyfriend charged with homicide after autopsy in student's death
RICHARD HERTZLER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILLERSVILLE University students enter Bard Hall on the Millersville University campus in Millersville, Pa., Monday. Police say a student, Millersville freshman Franken Karlie Hall, died in her room early Sunday.
MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
MILLER$VILLE, Pa. — 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 already been dead for hours when Orrostiea called them to Millersville University, claiming 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 to announce the homicide charge. He had been charged only with aggravated assault pending the autopsy.
"She fought for her life," the prosecutor said.
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, of Kennett Square, 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.
Orostieta 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.
Steedman 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."
University spokeswoman Janet Kacskos said the RA was awoken by other residents who heard the noise. After knocking and not getting any response, she figured they had "quieted down". Kacskos said.
In a note to students, Millersville President John Anderson called Hall's death "unfathomable." An outdoor memorial was planned for Monday night at Millersville, an 8,000-student state-owned university.
"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."
"We've never had this happen. We're a pretty bucolic, rural campus. Very safe," Kaccsos said.
Friends said Hall was a finance major who always appeared happy and often spent her free time going to the gym or feeding ducks at a campus pond.
"I knew that the relationship wasn't great," said Hall's friend, Trisha Faust, 19, of Emmaus. "It was on-again, off-again."
Molly Gaetano, 19, of Pittsburgh, who lived two doors down from Hall on the second floor of the three-story dormitory, said she last spoke to her Friday.
"She never talked bad about anyone. She was always smiling and cheerful," Gaetano said.
A memorial with flowers and cards was set up at Hall's dorm room.
HEALTH FROM PAGE 1
Her work did not go unnoticed back in Kansas. The University's public relations staff made her project a story and video on its homepage. Loving also was the first recipient of the Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett Outstanding Contribution Award, a scholarship created in honor of the former vice provost. McCluskey-Fawcett said she was approached about the idea of creating a scholarship in her name before her retirement in 2013.
teaching her how to brush her teeth and how grateful it made me to realize how lucky I am, and even though this is happening in Guatemala, it is also happening here in Lawrence."
"The award was made because of Leigh," she said. "I thought of her before I even thought of what the scholarship should be for."
In her final semester at the University, Loving has pushed
Jayhawk Health Initiative to get involved in the community. So far, the group has helped students sign up for the Affordable Care Act and take CPR classes.
The final mark Loving hopes to leave on the University is the creation of a new class that will explore global health issues and include volunteering in a foreign country. Loving said she hopes the course, which doesn't have an official name or department yet, will be available in the fall.
Loving said she hopes to become a doctor who specializes in treating illnesses involving the lungs.
One lesson she'll carry with her is how to let others know you care, even when they don't speak the same language. Sometimes, a the best communication is a simple gesture or facial expression.
"A smile is its own universal language," Loving said.
Edited by Emma LeGault
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Leigh Loving, right, with a patient in Guatemala after he received dental care
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