Woman dead in Dalton, Ga., homicide

Sheriff's Investigators and GBI Agents collect evidence at the scene of a homicide, 1402 Classic Chase Dr. in Dalton, Ga.
Sheriff's Investigators and GBI Agents collect evidence at the scene of a homicide, 1402 Classic Chase Dr. in Dalton, Ga.
photo David Emmanuel Rivera Zavala

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office have a man in custody in connection with the death Monday of a 41-year-old woman who was injured over the weekend in an altercation.

Myrna Rosales, of Dalton, was brought unconscious to Hamilton Medical Center around 1:15 a.m. Saturday, according to sheriff's office spokesman Rick Swiney.

The man who brought her told officials at the hospital that Rosales had been visiting with him and had left his residence. The man said he found her lying at the foot of his front porch steps when he started to leave later. The man left the hospital at some point after delivering Rosales.

Meanwhile, medical officials treating Rosales discovered her injuries were not consistent with a fall down stairs and the sheriff's office was notified and an investigation was launched, according to Swiney.

The man who brought Rosales to the emergency room was identified as David Emmanuel Rivera Zavala, 28, of 1402 Classic Chase Drive in Dalton.

Swiney said investigators determined Rosales and Zavala had an argument at the man's residence shortly before she was brought to the hospital but authorities couldn't locate Zavala and believed he had fled from the area.

Investigators developed information that Zavala had some relatives living in the Aurora, Ill., area and authorities in that state were notified to be on the lookout for Zavala, Swiney said.

Zavala was taken into custody the same day in Aurora by Illinois authorities on our charge of aggravated battery.

On Sunday, a sheriff's office crime scene technician and a GBI special agent traveled to Aurora to process the suspect's vehicle and interview Zavala.

Rosales' body will be transported to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy, Swiney said.

photo Sheriff's Investigators and GBI Agents collect evidence at the scene of a homicide, 1402 Classic Chase Dr. in Dalton, Ga.

Upcoming Events