Detroit, MI: Woman found dead in home, suffered blunt force trauma and strangled

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Police are investigating the death of a 29-year-old woman whose body was found in her home on Detroit's east side.

According to the medical examiner, Janice Grace was strangled and suffered blunt force trauma.

Her 24-year-old fiancé called police on March 30 to report that she was dead in the home in the 12000 block of Gallagher Street.

The man is in police custody at this time. Police have not yet released his name.

“I don’t know what to make of it,” said the victim’s brother Michael Grace. “There was a past of violence that we knew about and we tried helping out with the situation but she loved her kids so much that she couldn’t leave them.”

The couple had twin 4-year-old boys. According to relatives, their sons were home at the time of their mother's death and may have witnessed what happened.

Michael Grace told 7 Action News Janice Grace and her fiancé had some type of marriage ceremony in Poland but for some reason the union is not recognized here. The couple had planned to get married soon.

According to Michael Grace, he made attempts to help his sister escape the bad relationship several times. Janice Grace’s fiancé had custody of their sons.

“He seemed like a cool guy and everything,” said neighbor Derrick Turner said of the man in custody. “You never heard them arguing.”

Husani Alexander guessed the pair had lived across the street from him for about a month.

“He was a very calm person. He was a family man ... go to work, come home… never expected that,” he says.

Grace also had a 10-year-old son from a previous relationship. He did not live with her.

Her brother has a warning for anyone who has loved ones in abusive relationships.

“If anybody knows anything in their family about any kind of abuse… don’t wait,” said Michael Grace. “That’s all I can say is don’t ever wait because you never know when you’re going to get that phone call. If it’s bad enough you will get that phone call. That’s for sure.”

The man in custody has not been charged yet. The case is still under investigation.