Philadelphia Woman Found Dead At Home, Her Head Severed

A Philadelphia woman was found dead and decapitated on the kitchen floor inside a home in Northeast Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The scene was discovered just before 1 p.m. at a home on Magee Avenue, Fox station WTXF in Philadelphia reported, citing a police statement.

Police arrived at the home full of Christmas lights decorations with inflatable characters and other celebratory props outside after receiving a call for a domestic situation.

The officers were dispatched due a report of a woman getting stabbed with a knife and possibly dead.

Upon arrival, they found a 41-year-old female whose name was not publicly released. Her head was severed and on the kitchen floor.

Police found and arrested Ahmad Shareef, 34, just blocks away from the home. The District Attorney's Office approved the charges against Shareef for murder, abuse of a corpse, and possessing an instrument of crime, Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the office, said Tuesday night. Shareef was held without bail.

According to investigators, they determined that the victim's death was a domestic homicide, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The woman and Shareef were reportedly in a domestic partnership and lived together.

Emergency medical services (EMS) crews arrived on the scene at 12:46 p.m. and declared the woman dead.

Neighbors told the news outlet that Shareef was known for his bizarre and threatening behavior.

A resident in the area, who did not want to be identified, said that the occupants were Syrian immigrants who moved in nearly seven years ago. But later on they noticed that the house had turned into a source of arguing or fighting.

The police previously responded to the house several times, the resident added. The chaotic situation calmed down a bit in recent years. The resident described the victim as a friendly but quiet neighbor, possibly because she was not an English speaker.

Online court records showed that Shareef agreed to plead guilty in 2015 for a disorderly conduct arrest that happened the year prior.

Shareef was also reportedly charged in 2016 with driving under the influence. The case was not resolved, so an active bench warrant for Shareef remained.