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Christopher Alexander Mello, 39, of Elizabethtown, was initially charged with aggravated assault in connection to a domestic incident at his home.
Following the autopsy of Mello's wife by the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday, the Lancaster County District Attorney’s office authorized that the charge be amended to Criminal Homicide.
He denied bail due to the nature of the charges and will remain their until his arraignment.
If Mello is found guilty of Criminal Homicide he could be sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole, Pursuant to PA Rule of Criminal Procedure 52, as stated in his new court docket on Oct. 5.
A new criminal complaint has been prepared by the Elizabethtown police and filed at District Justice Randal Miller’s office in Elizabethtown.
Police first began investigating the incident when Mello's dad called them on Sept. 30 saying his son had been "acting crazy," and saying something about his wife being dead, police said in a statement on Friday.
Police responded to the call in the 300 block of West High Street and heard someone sobbing. Upon arrival, they found Mello and a teen boy carrying an infant, authorities said.
The relationship between the juveniles and Mello is unclear, but they are believed to be his children. Any update on their status and whereabouts has not been released.
Mello “indicated the victim was inside and officers found her in a second-story bathtub deceased,” the police said in a statement released on Friday.
The Lancaster County Deputy Coroner was called to the scene.
A visual exam determined a connection between the death and a domestic assault as the body “appeared to have two black eyes and a laceration on the nose without any blood emanating from it,” the coroner noted.
Mello admitted to Northwest Regional Police Department that he had engaged in “a physical altercation with the victim including punching her about the head and face and kicking her while she was on the ground, authorities said.
Mello also said he physically assaulted the victim the night before, police said.
Mello’s preliminary hearing has been scheduled with Magisterial District Judge Randall L. Miller on Oct. 13 at 1:30 p.m.
This is the second domestic-related charge for the man in the past five months, according to court documents.
Mello was previously charged with Terroristic Threats for a separate incident occurring at the same residence in April.
It is unclear if the wife was also the victim in that case or if it involved any of the children in the home.
His next court appearance for the April incident is scheduled with Judge Howard F. Knisely in Courtroom 3 on Oct. 8 at 9 a.m.
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