A Delaware man faces charges for allegedly murdering his grandmother in a hotel, following his arrest prompted by alarming confessions to hotel staff and police.
Thirty-year-old Dempsey Fritchey was taken into custody by Delaware State Police on January 29. His arrest came after he reportedly informed employees at the Hyatt House in Lewes that he had killed his grandmother, Elizabeth Fritchey, in one of the establishment’s rooms.
The hotel staff quickly notified law enforcement, who arrived on the scene around 5:45 p.m. The Hyatt House, where a night’s stay begins at approximately $140, became the center of the investigation.
State troopers questioned Fritchey near the hotel lobby, where he allegedly admitted he “may have” murdered his grandmother. Authorities then arrested him without any resistance, as per the Delaware State Police report.
Upon entering the hotel room, officers discovered the 72-year-old woman unconscious, suffering from severe injuries to her face and head.
Police investigations revealed that the grandson had assaulted her using his “hands and feet,” with the attack occurring “suddenly” and for “unknown reasons,” according to detectives.
The troopers gave the elderly woman medical aid until EMS arrived and transported her to a local hospital. She died from her injuries 12 days later on February 10.
Shortly after he was detained, Fritchey was charged with first-degree felony assault due to the risk of death caused by the injuries he allegedly inflicted.
Dempsey Fritchey, 30, was indicted for murder in mid-April for the January 29 killing of his 72-year-old grandmother
Dempsey’s alleged victim was Elizabeth Fritchey, who is pictured with her younger grandchildre. Dempsey is accused of beating Elizabeth to the brink of death
Fritchey allegedly assaulted his grandmother at the Hyatt House in Lewes, Delaware (pictured), and she died from her injuries 12 days later. Fritchey reportedly told Hyatt staff and police that he had murdered the elderly woman
He was booked into the Sussex Correctional Institution on a $300,000 cash bond.
On Friday, Delaware State Police announced that a Sussex County Grand Jury indicted Fritchey for first-degree murder on April 13.
He was transferred to the Delaware Department of Correction, where he remains locked up.
Fritchey’s original charge of first-degree assault was already quite serious, as under Delaware law, it is a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
First-degree murder is a Class A felony punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole or a reduced sentence.
Delaware does not have the death penalty, as it was abolished in 2024 following a 2016 ruling by the state’s supreme court that declared the punishment unconstitutional.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Delaware State Police for comment and additional details.
Last year, another grandchild was arrested on suspicion that she had beaten her grandmother to death.
Police said that Dempsey attacked Elizabeth for ‘unknown reasons.’ The grandmother is pictured with her husband, who died in 2021
Dempsey Fritchey is pictured with his grandfather years before he allegedly murdered his grandmother
Following his arrest, Fritchey was booked into the Sussex Correctional Institution (pictured) and later transferred to the Delaware Department of Correction
An 18-year-old from Alabama named Jailen Mia Lupton was charged with murdering her 70-year-old grandmother, Diane Trest, with a mallet in the front yard of the elderly woman’s home.
The teenager was captured on video admitting to the crime by a neighbor’s doorbell camera.
And in 2024, a Texas man named Michael Alexander Ferguson, 35, was accused of murdering his 106-year-old grandmother, Cecilia Agnes Ferguson, with whom he was living.
Police did not give any information about how Cecilia died, or what tied Ferguson to the crime other than living with her.
