A Pennsylvania woman died and her boyfriend is in police custody after a fatal shooting early Sunday morning.
Alyssa Rose Wiest, 25, was discovered facedown on the sidewalk with obvious gunshot wounds around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a news release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.
According to the release, an initial investigation into the incident by detectives, as well as evidence discovered at the scene, indicated that Wiest was attempting to flee her killer as “they began firing bullets at her inside her home.”
According to the release, Wiest was able to exit her front door and travel halfway down the block before being fatally shot.
Less than 12 hours later, Michael Dutkiewicz, 26, surrendered to police after a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to an MCDAO spokesperson.
He and Wiest had dated for two years.
Wiest was immediately rushed to the hospital to receive treatment once authorities arrived on the scene, but the MCDAO said she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Lankenau Hospital, which is less than 10 miles from the scene of the shooting.
Meanwhile, the West Conshohocken Borough Police and Montgomery County Detectives launched a joint investigation into the shooting, examining the evidence and looking for any eyewitnesses.
“The investigation found that the door to the victim’s residence, a few doors from where she was found, was ajar, and there was blood found both inside her residence and along the sidewalk leading to her body,” according to the statement. “Montgomery County Detectives processed the scene and recovered five projectiles, located both inside the residence and outside by the body.”
At the same time, detectives began speaking with neighbors who had witnessed the aftermath of the shooting.
One neighbor allegedly told detectives that Dutkiewicz stood by his truck shortly after the shooting and then fled the scene.
Detectives were then able to track Dutkiewicz’s movements using license plate readers, which revealed that his truck had passed through the area almost immediately following Wiest’s death.
They also discovered a suitcase of men’s clothing outside the house and a cell phone at the bottom of the stairwell that they “believed to belong to Dutkiewicz,” according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
Dutkiewicz is now charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and possessing a weapon of crime.
He was arraigned on Sunday afternoon and will return to court on May 27 for a preliminary hearing. Dutkiewicz is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, where he will most likely remain until trial because first-degree murder suspects are ineligible for bail in Pennsylvania.
Dutkiewicz has yet to enter a plea, but court records show he was previously convicted of disorderly conduct for fighting last month.
