Inset: Dempsey Fritchey (Delaware State Police). Background: Hyatt House located on Five Points Square in Lewes, Delaware (Google Maps).
Hotel staff at a Delaware Hyatt were working one evening when a man approached and told them he had killed his grandmother in one of the rooms, authorities say.
Dempsey Fritchey, 30, was indicted by a Sussex County grand jury for the first-degree murder of 72-year-old Elizabeth Fritchey, the Delaware State Police announced on Friday.
The defendant is currently in the custody of the Delaware Department of Correction.
On Jan. 29, at about 5:45 p.m., troopers arrived at the Hyatt House on Five Points Square in Lewes, where Dempsey Fritchey is listed as hailing from. The city is located right on the Delaware Bay.
Authorities say "a guest told hotel staff that he had killed his grandmother in one of the hotel rooms." Troopers spoke with the suspect near the lobby of the hotel, and he allegedly reiterated "that he may have killed his grandmother."
The man was arrested and originally charged with felony assault.
Officers went to the room and found Elizabeth Fritchey "unconscious and suffering from injuries to her face and head." They gave her medical attention, as did EMS before they took her to a nearby hospital with "life-threatening injuries."
She died on Feb. 10 "from the injuries she received during the assault."
According to Delaware State Police, detectives learned that "while staying together in the hotel room, [Dempsey] Fritchey, for unknown reasons, suddenly assaulted his grandmother with his hands and feet, and afterwards went to the lobby and told hotel staff about the incident."
It is unclear when the defendant is due to appear in court.