Man Could Face Death Penalty In Bristol Strangling

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — A man accused of strangling to death his pregnant girlfriend in Bristol could face the death penalty, prosecutors said Thursday.

The Bucks County District Attorney's office said Jaleel Lamar Loper, 28, of Philadelphia, knew his girlfriend, 29-year-old Anna Angok, was pregnant when he killed her inside her Bristol Township apartment in September.

Ahead of his arraignment in Common Pleas Court, the DA's office filed a notice of aggravating circumstances in the case. The filing, based in part on the fact that Loper knew Angok was pregnant, establishes the prosecution's right to seek the death penalty in the case if Loper is convicted.

According to prosecutors, Angok had tried to end her relationship with Loper on the day of her death.

Police say her body was found slumped over on a couch in her apartment shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 26. Her 2-year-old daughter was unharmed, and was sitting in a chair next to the couch when police found her, a probable cause affidavit said.

Angok was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy determined she was strangled, and that she was pregnant when killed, according to police.

According to the affidavit, Loper and Angok had been in a relationship, and Loper knew that she was pregnant. Text messages recovered by investigators showed that she had told Loper earlier in the day that their relationship was over, and that Loper had accused her of aborting their child, the affidavit said.

Around 6 p.m., an unidentified man called 911 and gave Angok's address, saying "please hurry." When police went to the apartment, there was no response at the door so they left. Minutes later, officers returned after a second 911 call. The second call was from a woman who had been contacted by Angok's foster father, the affidavit said.

According to the woman, the foster father had received a call from Angok's cell phone from a man who said Angok was unconscious and in need of help, the affidavit said.

Loper told investigators he was in the vicinity of Angok's apartment around the time of her death, but said he had been with someone else during the time she was killed, the affidavit said. However, that person refuted Loper's alibi, saying that he did not encounter Loper until after 6:18 p.m. — 18 minutes after the first, anonymous 911 call.

Detectives found other inconsistencies in Loper's account of his whereabouts on Wednesday evening, the affidavit said.

The morning after Angok's death, Loper didn't show up for work and left four voicemails for a Bucks County detective that expressed concern for Angok, and said he hadn't communicated with her since Wednesday afternoon, the affidavit said.

Loper is charged with criminal homicide, criminal homicide of an unborn child, and possessing an instrument of crime.

A trial date has not yet been set in the case.