A man accused of shooting and killing a woman in Manheim Borough was found dead in Alabama from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to county officials.
Michael Anthony Boccia, 36, had been charged Monday night with killing a woman named Keshia M. Gonzalez, 37, at an apartment in the first block of North Main Street. Authorities said the shooting appeared to have been a domestic incident.
Boccia, a York resident, had called the Manheim Borough Police Department around 11 p.m. Monday threatening to commit suicide, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities tracked Boccia to Cullman, Alabama, which is about 45 miles north of Birmingham, Alabama. Officers told him to stay on the line as they called dispatchers in Alabama.
Officers in Alabama found Boccia shot to death in front of his vehicle. The district attorney’s office said it appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Alabama Bureau of Investigations is now investigating Boccia’s death.
He’d been charged with homicide, assault, and several gun charges after Monday’s homicide in Manheim Borough.
Manheim Borough Police officers were called to the North Main Street apartment around 7:30 a.m. Monday after they received reports of gunfire and a woman yelling for help.
“When officers arrived they found Gonzalez on the floor suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and beyond help,” the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a press release.
Investigators spoke to a witness, who said they heard Gonzalez yelling for help, but they couldn’t open her door. As the witness was trying to get inside to help, Boccia emerged from the door and pointed a handgun at them.
The witness said they left and then heard three gunshots.
Surveillance footage showed Boccia arrive at the apartment at 7:20 a.m. Monday, and a “figure” climbed the stairs to Gonzalez’s residence. The gunshots and yelling were heard on surveillance footage, the district attorney’s office said, after which the figure can be seen leaving the apartment and speeding away.
“Multiple witnesses told police Boccia had called them on the day of the shooting, including family members, who stated the he told them he had done something bad,” the district attorney’s office wrote.
Authorities found shell casings near Gonzalez’s body in her home.
The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office added that county detectives are helping Manheim Borough Police with the investigation.
