Boyfriend charged 6 months after woman's body found under bridge

Nearly six months after a Newton County woman was found under a bridge, authorities charged her boyfriend in connection with her murder.

James Gary Hill III is believed to be the last person with Kelly Marshall the night before her Aug. 12 death, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

Hill, who is in Smith State Prison on aggravated assault charges, faces murder and concealing a death charges, Newton County sheriff’s Sgt. Courtney Morrison said in a statement Monday.

Authorities have not said what Hill’s exact role was in Marshall’s death, but Morrison said evidence from the crime scene and Hill’s car gave investigators probable cause to issue charges.

“He has been in Smith State Prison pretty much since her murder on unrelated charges,” Morrison told The AJC. “He came back to Newton (County) for court (and) investigators attempted to interview him. He invoked (his Miranda rights) and he was charged.”

Morrison said Hill was denied bond at his first court appearance.

Marshall’s body was found under a bridge on Mt. Tabor Road in Covington after authorities got a “suspicious call” about the discovery. The coroner’s office ruled Marshall’s death homicide by asphyxia in December, but “the circumstances of her death were still under investigation,” coroner Tommy Davis told The AJC.

At the time of Marshall’s death, Hill was not identified as a suspect or a person of interest.