PINE GROVE, Pa. — Assault charges have been filed in Schuylkill County against a man in connection with the death of his grandmother.
Police were called to a home along North Tulpehocken Street in Pine Grove around 3 p.m. Sunday.
Kalvin Clark, 32, of Pine Grove, told officers that he and the victim, Sharon Zimmerman, 73, got into an argument on Saturday.
Clark told state police he was fighting with Zimmerman at their home in Pine Grove on Saturday night when he grabbed her mouth to keep the neighbors from hearing her yell. State police say that's when Zimmerman fell down the stairs, and her grandson left her lying on the ground overnight.
Clark tells troopers he took his grandmother's phone to keep her from calling the police.
By the time he tried to place her in the shower the next morning, he told police her body was cold to the touch.
When police arrived at the home on Sunday afternoon, Zimmerman was dead.
"At first, I thought maybe she had a little tumble because a little while back she broke her leg falling, so when I saw the ambulance, I was like, eh, then I saw the town police come, and I thought, 'Wait a minute.' And then I saw the coroner pull up, I'm like, 'Whoa,'" said Paula Conrad.
According to court papers, Zimmerman had bruises all over her body and a "substantial facial injury."
The next-door neighbor says unfortunately, he wasn't surprised.
"He's troubling the area. 4 o'clock in the morning, it's not uncommon for him to be out screaming and carrying on," Alfred Kohr said.
Neighbors say Zimmerman will be missed.
"Miss Sharon was in everybody's lives in the area here. She would tell you how to mow your grass and do your flower beds and if you weren't mowing it in the right direction," Kohr laughed. "But she would bring Christmas presents and birthday presents to my son."
"She was really nice. She'd do anything for anybody," Conrad added.
Clark was charged with aggravated and simple assault. State police would not say if any other charges are coming, just that the investigation is ongoing.