Husband kills 71-year-old wife in their room at retirement community, Georgia cops say
.jpg "A 81-year-old man is charged with malice murder after he’s accused of killing his wife at a senior living facility in Lawrenceville, Georgia, cops say.")
A Georgia man is charged with murder after police say he killed his wife inside a room they shared at an Atlanta-area retirement community.
Gwinnett County police arrested 81-year-old Richard Hayden on Tuesday, Feb. 6, after his wife, 71, was found dead at the Linwood Estates Gracious Retirement Living in Lawrenceville, police said.
Hayden was charged with felony murder, malice murder and aggravated assault in what authorities described as a “domestic-related incident.”
Officers were called to the facility at approximately 10 a.m. and discovered a woman dead in one of the rooms, police said in a news release.
“The other person who occupies the room, a male figure, he was detained at that time and because of the suspicious circumstance of the female’s death, investigators were called,” Cpl. Juan Madiedo with Gwinnett County police told WSB-TV.
Investigators said Hayden struck his wife in the head with a hammer, killing her, according to an incident report obtained by McClatchy News.
A manager at the facility told police Hayden and his wife had been arguing for days about downsizing their apartment, the incident report states. She stopped speaking to him that day “and he snapped,” the manager told police, according to the report.
The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death, authorities said.
Hayden was evaluated at a hospital for reasons not connected to the incident and later booked into jail, police said.
He remained in custody at the Gwinnett County Jail as of Feb. 7, online records show.
Lawrenceville is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published February 7, 2024 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Husband kills 71-year-old wife in their room at retirement community, Georgia cops say."