Man from The Plains indicted on murder charge

Tuesday, Nov. 27 | By Mark Grandstaff

A Fauquier grand jury indicted a man from The Plains on Monday for allegedly strangling his girlfriend to death.

On Sept. 2, Fauquier 9-1-1 dispatchers got a call from a 10-year-old girl who said her mother, Dana A. Hill, 38, was fighting with Cecil Leonard Hopkins, 47, Hill's boyfriend.

Sheriff's deputies and Fauquier EMTs arrived at Hopkins' and Hill's home on Zulla Road. According to a search warrant filed in Fauquier County Circuit Court, Hopkins put Hill in a choke hold with his arm, strangling her.

When deputies and an ambulance crew reached the house, they found Hill on the floor, unresponsive, with Hopkins standing over her.

EMTs tried to revive Hill with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but could not save her. She died on the scene. Deputies arrested Hopkins and charged him with first-degree murder.

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