Police: Mom fatally stabbed; three kids in home unharmed
SPRING GROVE, Pa. — Authorities say a Pennsylvania mother was fatally stabbed in her home over the weekend by a neighbor with her three children nearby. The children were unharmed.
Southwestern Regional Police said 24-year-old Samantha Stein was found dead in her Spring Grove home by her boyfriend on Saturday morning. It wasn't immediately clear how long the woman had been dead or whether the children were in the home when she was found slain.
Sgt. Jamie Stalcup said three children under the age of 11 were home at the time of the stabbing and are currently with other relatives.
Stalcup declined to release the circumstances of the slaying but said the death "was not random." He said there's no reason for other residents to be concerned.
The Southwestern Regional Police Department arrested Ray Heck Sr., 59, at 6 p.m. at his Spring Grove home, reports CBS affiliate WHP.
Heck is charged with homicide, burglary, theft and receiving stolen property. Heck lived less than a block away from Stein. The station reports that the two were acquaintances, but a motive for the crime is still unknown.
Investigators have recovered a knife, believed to be the murder weapon, clothes worn by the defendant at the time of the homicide and several things taken from the victim's home, police tell that station. The items were reportedly found in several different locations, including a dumpster and a wooded area near the suspect's residence.
Police say there is also video of someone entering and leaving Stein's residence.
Heck has not yet entered a plea in the case. It wasn't known Monday if he's retained an attorney.
