A Somers Point woman has been charged with murder in the killing of her roommate.
Alyson Gill is accused of bludgeoning and strangling Somers Hickman, according to information read in court during her detention hearing Thursday.
She was ordered held by Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury.
Hickman, 67, was found dead inside his Chapman Boulevard home on March 30, when police made a welfare check.
Hickman had called police March 17, for a domestic violence incident with his roommate, Gill, according to the affidavit.
While the affidavit doesn't say what happened in that police visit, it says Hickman's family did not see or hear from him after that.
When officers went back to the home for the March 30 welfare check, they found it locked and no sign of forced entry.
Hickman was found dead with a ligature around his neck. He also had a wound to his head, believed to be caused by a glass statue, pieces of which were found at various locations inside the home.
The base had what appeared to be blood on it.
Gill, 55, was not there.
She was reported missing by Somers Point police last week.
At the time, they said only that she had been missing since March 21."Ms. Gill has some physical and mental limitations," police wrote in an April 3 Facebook post. "Family and friends are concerned for her health/safety and hoping for a safe return.
"But the post was later updated saying she had been found.
When found in Atlantic City, she gave police a false name and said she had moved out of the home, the affidavit says.
But a witness told investigators that Gill called them frantically multiple times March 26, and confirmed she was still living at the Chapman residence.
Gill was booked in the Atlantic County Justice Facility just before 2 a.m. Saturday, records show. No announcement was made about the arrest."
At this point in the case, the evidence that’s at least been provided to me shows little more than she’s a suspect in the case," defense attorney Alex Settle told Breaking. "That’s all that’s really been established."
Gill originally gave a false name to police, Assistant Prosecutor Kate Robinson told the judge.
Settle said Gill does have mental issues, and as a result, gives different names each time she has been spoken to.
Gill told police she now lives in Philadelphia, which shows the potential for flight, Robinson said.
Gill has an extensive record involving mainly drug charges, and several failures to appear, according to information released in court.
Her public safety assessment put her at a five out of six for failure to appear and a four out of six for likelihood to re-offend.
Note: The Atlantic County Justice Facility no longer provides mugshots to the media, citing the Atlantic County prosecutor’s order. The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office says it’s part of the Attorney General’s Guidelines. There is no such guideline, according to the Attorney General’s Office, but they have told these offices for years that they should not release any photos that appear to be mugshots.
