A 71-year-old South Jersey man was indicted Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge for allegedly strangling his 40-year-old daughter in June, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Dennis J. Hall of Franklin Township faces a maximum of life in prison if he is convicted.
On June 11 around 6:15 a.m., Franklin Township police responded to a home on East Avenue after Hall allegedly called 911 to report that his daughter, Devin Hall, was not breathing and that he had strangled her, the prosecutor’s office said.
Dennis Hall was arrested at the scene. A public defender representing Hall could not be reached for comment.
Police attempted lifesaving measures on the 40-year-old woman, who was then transported to a hospital. She was removed from life support the next day and pronounced dead.
The Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland Regional Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and determined that cause of death was asphyxiation, and the manner of death was homicide.
Devin Hall’s online obituary described her as “a special daughter who endured many challenges and struggles during her life on this earth. She was an inspiration to others, and she touched many with her beauty, gentle kindness, and innocent presence.”
The obituary said she had traveled to 32 states and loved music, especially Toby Keith. Besides many family members, Devin Hall left behind one dog and four cats, the obituary said.
Her mother, Jan Hall, told 6abc that she was born with multiple disabilities, used a wheelchair, and did not speak.
Jan Hall said Dennis Hall, her husband, awakened her and allegedly said he had strangled their daughter.
In June, the prosecutor’s office said that a witness, who was not identified, was awakened by Dennis Hall, who told the witness that he had strangled his daughter.
Dolly Parton’s literacy program, Imagination Library, has provided nearly 800 children with free monthly books mailed to their homes in West Philadelphia.
In Montgomery County, around 3,500 children have been served in the Norristown and Pottstown areas since 2023, thanks to Parton’s program.
“We don’t anticipate any changes to the program,” said Jennifer Leith, executive director of the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC).
Imagination Library, which Parton started in 1995 in Tennessee, provides deeply discounted books that are mailed each month to any child in a given zip code whose parent or guardian applies to participate. Governments and nonprofits provide funding to cover the remaining costs of the program, which is available for children from birth to age 5.
The Dollywood Foundation said in a recent fact sheet that it has delivered more than 300 million books to children in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland.
WePAC started with one zip code, 19104, in July 2024, then expanded to include four more zip codes in July 2025, Leith said.
“In that time, literally thousands of books have been delivered to West Philadelphia children,” Leith said.
“Anyone from any income level, from any background, can participate,” said Eliza Brumbaugh, executive director of the Literacy Council of Norristown, which helps to run the program, with assistance from the Justamere Foundation, in Montgomery County.
Leith said “it would be great” if Mayor Cherelle L. Parker or Gov. Josh Shapiro “decided to do this in honor of Dolly Parton’s legacy.”
In Delaware County, The Community’s Foundation has provided books from the Imagination Library program to more than 140 children in Eddystone since 2024, said Dierdre Woody Konar, president of the nonprofit.
“The Dolly Parton Imagination Library has shared with TCF and their other partners that they have prepared carefully for this day and for the future of the Imagination Library,” Konar said in an email Wednesday morning.
“TCF is incredibly sad to hear of Dolly’s passing, and we look forward to continuing this important work,” Konar said.
Foundations Inc., a national education nonprofit based in Mount Laurel, ran the first Imagination Library program in Philadelphia for five years, helping to provide books to children in North Philly’s 19133 zip code.
“It was pretty much a book desert,” Casey Jones, executive director of marketing and communications for Foundations, said of the zip code before the program started.
Through Parton’s program, Foundations was able to deliver around 27,000 books to children in that one zip code until the five-year commitment was completed at the end of 2025, said Rhonda H. Lauer, CEO and president of Foundations.
“We went to Dollywood to present it to her in person,” Lauer recalled, saying she had several in-depth conversations with Parton about life and family and the program.
In the end, Lauer said, “all she cared about was getting books in the hands of children.”
People take phone photos as Dolly Parton performed at the Wilmington Public Library, in 2022. She promoted her Imagination Library, a free book gifting program for children.JOSÉ F. MORENO / Staff Photographer
A 22-year-old man accused of menacing pedestrians near City Hall while wearing a Halloween mask earlier this month was arrested in Las Vegas, the U.S. Marshals Service said Tuesday night.
Zymire Hughes was being held at the Clark County Detention Center awaiting extradition proceedings, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Hughes gained national attention when viral images circulated online showing him allegedly wearing a mask resembling a cracked porcelain doll with a baby face. Masks advertised for Halloween that look very similar to what Hughes allegedly wore are available for sale on both Amazon and eBay.
Zymire Hughes was wanted by @PhillyPolice for terrorizing citizens in Center City Phila. @USMS_Philly and the USMS Nevada Violent Offender Task Force arrested Hughes at 8pm in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is being held in the Clark County Detention Center waiting extradition back to PA. pic.twitter.com/eFfBG0o5Bh
— U.S. Marshals Service Philadelphia (@USMS_Philly) August 26, 2026
On the morning of Aug. 12, a man in the mask — which some also have described as resembling Chucky from the movie Child’s Play — harassed and scared more than a dozen people near City Hall, authorities said, including a 40-year-old woman who was injured when she fell while running from the masked man.
Hughes allegedly harassed around 16 people during a half-hour period that morning, authorities said.
At one point, he allegedly harassed a woman who was jogging and asked her if she was “ready to die,” police said.
Hughes eventually rode a bus to his apartment near 23rd and Venango Streets, authorities said. He later left his apartment with packed bags, and police suspected he was heading to Los Angeles or Las Vegas, where he is believed to have connections through an employer.
Investigators did not believe he intended to physically harm those he harassed, given that he did not produce a weapon during any of the interactions, authorities said.
Authorities were searching for a woman who disappeared in the Delaware River after rescuing a girl Monday afternoon, according to Delran Township police and Burlington County officials.
Delran police responded just after 3:50 p.m. to Burlington County’s Amico Island Park for two possible drowning victims, officials said.
Officials gave the following account:
Police were told that the woman entered the river to rescue a struggling juvenile girl.
The woman pushed the girl toward the shore, where bystanders pulled her safely from the water.
During the rescue, the woman went under the water and did not resurface.
Officials said the search included personnel from the Delran Police Department, the Delran Fire Department, the Delran Emergency Squad, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the Camden County Dive Team, officials said.
A Delaware County school board member was killed during the weekend in a vehicle crash in South Jersey, officials said Monday.
Phillip Eastman, 68, was a longtime Springfield resident who recently retired from a 44-year career with Peco and Exelon, the Springfield School District said in a statement.
“Phil tragically lost his life in a car accident this past weekend,” the district said.
For nearly three decades, Eastman coached youth and high school ice hockey, including 17 years as the varsity head coach at Springfield High School, the district said.
“While his teams enjoyed success on the ice, he considered mentoring student athletes and helping them develop teamwork, responsibility, perseverance, and other lifelong skills to be the most rewarding aspect of his coaching career,” the district said.
“Phil and his wife, Maureen, raised their son and daughter in Springfield, where both attended Springfield schools and participated in high school athletics,” the district said.
“His family’s enduring connection to Springfield schools was a primary motivation for his desire to serve on the School Board,” the district said.
On Saturday around 8:30 a.m., Eastman was driving a Chevrolet SUV north on Route 55 in Vineland when his vehicle was struck by someone driving a Tesla heading in the opposite direction, said Trooper Caitlin Brennan of the New Jersey State Police.
The Tesla was traveling south when it crossed over a grass median, hit a tree, and then entered the northbound side of Route 55, Brennan said.
The driver of the Tesla and a passenger in Eastman’s SUV suffered injuries and were taken to an area hospital, Brennan said.
The crash remains under investigation, she said.
It was at least the second fatal accident on Route 55 this summer.
In July, two women were killed and another injured in a one-vehicle crash in Deptford Township.
Makini, the last African lion at the Philadelphia Zoo, has died, zoo officials announced Friday.
Makini, who was about 17.5 years old, suffered from advanced arthritis, and he recently began showing signs of weakness in his hind end and was struggling to navigate, zoo officials said.
“The team made the difficult and compassionate decision to humanely euthanize him,” the zoo said in a statement.
“At 17.5 years old, he was considered geriatric and surpassed the life expectancy for this species. The life expectancy of lions in the wild is 10-14 years,” the zoo said.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo website said that a lioness in the wild can live up to 16 years, but males rarely live past the age of 12. In zoos, the website said, lions may live into their teens or early 20s.
Makini arrived in Philadelphia in December 2011 from the Tulsa Zoo in Oklahoma where he was born. His name means “dignity” in Swahili.
“Makini was a force to be reckoned with and he made sure you knew that. He was all sorts of tough and manly, yet was goofy and would have you laughing several moments later. His presence is something that is surely going to be missed. I will cherish all the time we spent together,” said an animal care specialist identified by the zoo as Shannon K.
“He served as an incredible ambassador for his species for the hundreds of thousands of guests who had the chance to know him,” the zoo said.
The zoo said it was having conversations with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums “on the future of lions at the Philadelphia Zoo. We will keep you informed as the process progresses.”
Makini and Tajiri at the Philadelphia Zoo in an undated photo. Tajiri, Makini’s partner, died late last year.Philadelphia Zoo
A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter was involved in a midair collision with a small plane Wednesday night at an airport west of Harrisburg, officials said.
One person from the crashed plane is dead, Lt. Col. George Bivens, acting state police commissioner, said at a late-night news conference at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Two members of the state police who were aboard the helicopter, Cpl. Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills, were listed in stable condition at the hospital, said Ashley Ludwig, trauma medical director at Penn State Hershey.
A state police helicopter was seen on its side and a plane was mangled after the two collided at the Carlisle Airport.
The coroner was called to the scene shortly after.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said he was “pleased and relieved” that the state police members survived and were not seriously hurt.
‘Tonight could have been much worse,” Shapiro said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the incident with the National Transportation Safety Board, reported that a state police Bell 407 helicopter collided in midair with a Cessna 150 airplane at the Carlisle Airport, about 20 miles west of Harrisburg.
Bivens said that around 6:30 p.m., the state police were conducting a training exercise at the airport and were hovering the helicopter a few feet off the ground in a grassy when they were struck from behind by a Cessna that unexpectedly veered from a runway.
The plane crashed and was torn apart into pieces, Bivens said.
CBS21 posted photos on social media showing the crash scene and the helicopter lying on its side.
Earlier Tuesday night, Shapiro posted on social media that he had been briefed on the crash “and I am heading there now,” he said.
“Lori and I are praying hard and we ask all of our fellow Pennsylvanians to join us,” Shapiro said.
A 16-year-old was shot early Wednesday evening in the Kensington section of Philadelphia, and police said surveillance video recorded the teen also firing shots in a gun battle with an unseen shooter.
Around 5:45 p.m., police responded to the area of D Street and Indiana Avenue and found the teen with gunshot wounds to a leg and a foot, Chief Inspector Scott Small said.
Police took the teen to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Police found 18 spent shell casings at the scene, Small said.
Surveillance video captured the teen firing shots but not the person who shot the 16-year-old, Small said, adding that the teen will be held by police.
A 41-year-old man allegedly fleeing sex-assault charges in Maine was arrested Sunday at Philadelphia International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Germany, authorities said.
Matthew Thomas Cooley, of Solon, Maine, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the departure gate where he attempted to board a flight to Frankfurt on a one-way ticket, the federal law enforcement agency said Wednesday.
Cooley was transferred to the Tinicum Township Police Department to initiate extradition proceedings.
Court records show no attorney listed for Cooley, who was being held at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County.
In April, detectives from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office in Maine went to Cooley’s home to arrest him in the sexual-assault case and Cooley allegedly pepper sprayed the detectives, CentralMaine.com reported.
Detectives began investigating Cooley after a 31-year-old woman alleged that Cooley sexually assaulted her twice last year, the news outlet reported. The woman also gave investigators videos and photos of multiple firearms and hundreds of boxes of ammunition kept in Cooley’s home.
Cooley was charged in Maine with two counts of gross sexual assault, one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and one count of domestic violence stalking. Cooley also was charged with two counts of assault on an officer, and one count of refusing to submit to arrest.
Elliott N. Ortiz, area port director in Philadelphia for Customs and Border protection, said in a statement: “Customs and Border Protection officers will always leverage our border security authority to help victims of sexual assault seek justice by capture dangerous fugitives attempting to flee the United States.”
Ortiz added: “Capturing dangerous fugitives is one way in which CBP works with our law enforcement partners to help keep our communities safe.”
A 9-year-old girl was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver Tuesday night in North Philadelphia, police said.
The girl was hit on Germantown Avenue not far from Erie Avenue shortly before 8:30 p.m., police said.
She was transported by medics to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where she was being treated for a broken foot, at least one broken rib, and skin abrasions, police said.
The striking vehicle was possibly a Toyota RAV4 with two flat tires, police said.
