Alexander Hill Jr., the man accused of murdering four people in one family, appeared in court on Friday at 1 p.m. for a preliminary hearing.
Hill faces four first degree murder charges in the death of four family members.
On April 19, 2014, Pauline Wilkins, her daughter Vicki Chavis, her grand-daughter Missy Chavis and her 2-year old great-grandson all died in their Harding Street home. The home was set on fire. Investigators say two family members died from smoke inhalation and two others were stabbed.
Hill was the prime suspect in the case and police were searching for him for more than a year.
At the preliminary hearing, several witnesses were on the stand, including Vivian Chavis, Hill’s ex-girlfriend.
Chavis testified that leading up to the murders of her family members, Hill called her multiple times a day and threatened to hurt her and her family members.
In the early morning hours of April 19, 2014, four of Chavis’ family members were murdered. During the court proceedings on Friday, the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Cassandra Conover testified that two victims died from multiple stab wounds, while two others died from smoke inhalation.
The Commonwealth also played a 911 recording, where one of the victims could be heard coughing and a baby was crying in the background as well. This could have been during the time that the home was on fire, but that was not made clear.
Hill’s defense attorney, John Rochecharlie was also concerned that there was not enough evidence to connect his client to the crime.
At the end of Friday’s proceedings, the judge ruled that there was probable cause to forward the case to a grand jury. That hearing will be on December 17th 9 a.m.
