College Forced to Close After Student’s Strangulation

(ReliableNews.org) – When parents send their kids off to college, they believe they are going to be safe in their dorm rooms. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. A Kentucky university recently went on lockdown after a murder occurred on campus.

Campbellsville police responded to a call at Campbellsville University around 12:43 a.m. on February 24. When they arrived, they found Josiah Kilman unresponsive in his dorm room. Authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of the 18-year-old’s wrestling teammate, 21-year-old Charles Escalera.

The campus was put on lockdown while authorities searched for the suspect for hours. Saturday evening, someone called in a report about a suspicious person in a barn. When law enforcement arrived, they found Escalera in a residence. Police charged him with second-degree burglary and murder. A judge set his bond at $2 million.

Kilman was a theology student at Campbellsville University. His alleged murderer was a pre-engineering major. The students were both on the wrestling team at the private Christian university. The Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s Office determined Kilman died from strangulation, but a motive for the crime is not known.

The victim’s family issued a statement and said he had a “passionate heart on fire for the Lord.” They said Kilman “influenced many hearts as he was a true example of compassion, kindness, and love.”

Kilman’s death came just days after another dorm room murder at the University of Colorado. The Colorado Springs Police Department responded to a call of a shooting at a dorm room on the university’s campus. Authorities found two people dead inside. The victims were later identified as 26-year-old Celie Rain Montgomery and 24-year-old Samuel Knopp.

Colorado police arrested 25-year-old Nicholas Jordan, Knopp’s roommate, and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder. Police have not released a motive for the killings but reports have surfaced that indicated the two men had multiple disputes over the cleanliness of the dorm room.