Aaron Rochester, 50, of Cedar Bluff.A Cherokee County, Ala., man charged with capital murder in the death of a woman he was living with has died in an apparent jailhouse suicide.
Aaron Rochester, 50, of Cedar Bluff, was pronounced dead by Cherokee County Coroner Dr. Jeremy Deaton on Sunday, Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said in a statement.
Rochester initially was charged May 15 with arson and attempted murder in connection with the homicide of 50-year-old Donna Marable.
Shaver said evidence indicates Rochester “died in an apparent suicide, however, the body will be transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for autopsy.”
The Alabama Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation and the case will be reviewed by the district attorney’s office, Shaver said.
Rochester was being held at the Cherokee County Detention Center on arson and a capital murder charge, upgraded from attempted murder after Marable died May 18 in Georgia from injuries she sustained in the fire at a home the two shared on County Road 131.
The sheriff said after Rochester’s arrest that evidence indicated a brief argument took place before Rochester assaulted Marable.