NEWARK – A 21-year-old Newark woman has died in a Columbus hospital less than a week after police found her found in a car severely beaten and strangled, apparently by her boyfriend, who is facing charges of domestic violence and attempted murder.
The woman, identified by multiple media outlets as Tala Smith, died Saturday at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where she had been transferred on March 17 after suffering injuries from domestic violence allegedly at the hands of Andrew Hoskinson, 22, of Newark, Sgt. Clint Eskins, spokesman for the Newark Division of Police.
Police did not release the woman’s name due to the prohibitions of Marsy’s Law, Eskins said.
Officers called to a home at 214 Eddy Street in Newark at 12:31 a.m. on a report of an unresponsive woman in the back seat of a car found the victim not breathing “with obvious signs of trauma from a suspected assault,” Eskins said.
The officers administered lifesaving measures until the Newark Division of Fire and EMS paramedics arrived, detected a pulse and took the woman to Licking Memorial Hospital, where she was later flown by emergency helicopter to Grant, Eskins said.
Detectives obtained search warrants for the vehicle and the residence and questioned Hoskinson, where they and obtained evidence of domestic violence, to include information that the victim had been strangled, Eskins said.
Hoskinson was arrested on a charge of domestic violence and strangulation and the Licking County Prosecutor’s Office added the charge of attempted murder, Eskins said. The prosecutor’s office will review the case following an autopsy to determine if further charges should be filed, Eskins said.
Police documents suggest this incident was related to one earlier near the Manning Street bridge.