A 73-year-old woman in Maryland has been charged with killing her 82-year-old neighbor with a brick, officials in Prince George’s County said Monday.
The woman was killed sometime before 7:15 a.m. Sunday in the town of Bladensburg, a community of around 9,000 northeast of Washington, D.C.
Chun Yong Oh is accused of striking Hwa Cha Pak multiple times with a brick, the Prince George’s County Police Department said in a statement. She then called 911 to report the murder, according to police.
Oh is charged with first- and second-degree murder and was being held without bail, according to police and online jail records.
NBC Washington reported that the killing occurred in a senior living facility, citing neighbors. The neighbors told the station that the women were longtime friends.
Prince George’s County police said in the statement that Oh and the woman “had been in a dispute prior to the murder” but did not elaborate. When police arrived, they found the beaten woman in a garden in the back of the building, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
“My heart just sank. My heart just sank, because she was just delightful,” a neighbor told NBC Washington of the victim. “She was a delight for our little family” at the center, she said.
The station, citing sources, reported that the argument may have been over a long-term debt.
Police have asked anyone with information to contact detectives. Online court records appear to show that Oh is scheduled to have a preliminary court hearing Tuesday.
