About three months after an elderly woman was found dead in her New Jersey home, a man is accused of her murder.
A man faces murder charges in the beating death of Thriza Sweeten on March 19, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday.
Prosecutors will reveal who they believe murdered Sweeten inside her home on the 1500 block of S Delaware Avenue in Paulsboro, N.J. at a press conference Friday at noon.
Investigators say Sweeten, 79, who lived alone, was last seen alive around 10 p.m. on Sunday March 18. She was found by her daughter around 6 p.m. the next day as the daughter stopped by to check in on her mother.
"She said it looked like she was beaten, punched in the face," said Derrek Montalto, Sweeten's son-in-law. "Her eyes were puffy and she had a gash on her head."
An autopsy performed on March 20 determined that Sweeten died from multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma, according to police. The medical examiner and investigators say that her death was a homicide.
The news of Sweeten's death shocked her quiet community.
"That lady was harmless," said Robert Jones, a family friend. "She would give you the shirt off her back."
"My mom was very nice," said Barry Sweeten, who learned of his mother's death while in the hospital. "She didn't deserve to die like this."
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Friends and family say Sweeten worked as a registered nurse and most recently worked with the elderly.
At the time of the incident investigators said they had a person of interest but they didn't reveal that person's identity. It's not known if that person is the same one now accused in Sweeten's murder.
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