July 16, 2024
Frank Piscani/Imagn Content Services, LLC
Kyle Samuels-Robey, 34, allegedly killed his roommate, Jacob Gonzalez, 25, at Norristown State Hospital on Sunday during an altercation about books, Pennsylvania State Police say.
A patient at the Norristown State Hospital psychiatric facility is accused of strangling his roommate to death Sunday night during an altercation about books.
Kyle Samuels-Robey, 34, has been charged with first- and third-degree murder in the death of Jacob Gonzalez, 25, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and Pennsylvania State Police said Monday night.
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Investigators said a hospital employee observed Samuels-Robey and Gonzalez on their beds at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Three minutes later, Samuels-Robey allegedly approached two nurses and asked for ice for his swollen hands. Gonzalez was found slumped on his bed and unresponsive.
Samuels-Robey allegedly admitted to the nurses that he "beat up" and "choked out" Gonzalez because Gonzalez threw his books, according to charging documents.
State troopers responded to a 911 call by a hospital staffer at 9:45 p.m., and Gonzalez was taken to Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy by the Montgomery County Coroner's Office on Monday concluded that the cause of death was asphyxiation due to compression of the neck, ruling the death a homicide.
Samuels-Robey was transferred to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25 at 10 a.m.
