THE BRONX — An ex-con died eight days after authorities believe he killed his girlfriend while stoned on K2 by stuffing a rosary into her mouth until she choked, officials said.
Pierre Jones, 34, attacked Hellen Hernandez, 33, in her building at 1191 Anderson Ave., near Shakespeare Avenue, and leaving her there for a neighbor to find as he ran outside without any clothes on about 5:25 p.m., NYPD officials said.
The rosary had prevented Hernandez, a mother of three, from breathing and she was pronounced dead at Lincoln Medical Center, police said. Her death was officially deemed a homicide Monday, according to Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson.
Jones was found naked, high and flailing his arms on East 167th Street near Jerome Avenue, officials said. He was taken to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital for a psychological evaluation, police said.
Jones wasn't immediately arrested, but the Bronx District Attorney brought the case before a grand jury, a spokeswoman said.
But then Jones died Sept. 5, so the DA withdrew the case against him, a spokeswoman said. The medical examiner is still trying to determine the cause and manner of death, she said.
Jones had been arrested 41 times since 2002, when he was arrested for stalking in Manhattan, police said.
He was convicted of robbery in 2003, records show.
In December 2016, he was arrested for shoplifting toys from a Bronx Target, prosecutors said.
