Niagara Falls police detectives have arrested and charged a suspect in the city’s first homicide of 2024.
Investigators from the city’s Criminal Investigation Division announced that a suspect in the homicide case, 32-year-old Keith William Hill of Buffalo, was charged with second-degree murder.
Police said Hill pleaded not guilty to the charge during an arraignment Monday morning in Falls City Court.
Hill was ordered held without bail pending a preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon. Police said he also pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree criminal contempt from a previous incident involving the victim.
Falls police patrol officers were dispatched to a home in the 2400 block of Orleans Avenue, at around 11 p.m. Sunday, for a report of a possible domestic violence incident. Police dispatchers told the responding officers that the 911 caller was a 12-year-old child and that there was “an unresponsive female” victim at the scene.
When officers arrived at the home, they found four children, ranging in age from early teens to toddlers there, along with the body of a deceased woman. Investigators said the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had suffered multiple stab wounds.
The victim’s name has not been released yet. The children were taken from the home by family members.
Detectives immediately identified Hill as a suspect in the slaying and broadcast a country-wide attempt to locate him. A short time later, Lockport police spotted Hill’s 2021 Nissan Sentra, parked and unoccupied, on Spaulding Street.
Investigators said they kept a watch on the vehicle and, at around 3:45 a.m., approached a nearby home. Hill was found inside the residence and taken into custody.
Detectives said their investigation is ongoing and anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact CID detectives at 716-286-4553 or the NFPD general information number at 716-286-4711