News

Actions

Man charged with Kalamazoo woman’s murder

Posted at 3:52 PM, Jun 09, 2015
and last updated 2015-06-09 16:21:41-04

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Joseph Christopher Janssen was charged Tuesday with open murder charge in connection withthe death of a Kalamazoo woman.

Debra Jean, 62, was found dead Sunday inside her Edgemoor Avenue home.  Kalamazoo Public Safety officials responded to her home after they got a call to check and make sure she was okay.

They said she may have been dead for several days.

“She pretty much kept to herself,” neighbor Jerome Payne said. “You really didn’t see her outside. The only time you really seen her was when she was leaving. Like I said, she was more than happy to throw you a wave and a smile.”

Autopsy results that may confirm Jean’s cause of death are forthcoming.

According to online records from the Michigan Department of Corrections, Janssen, 25, has prior convictions of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer causing injury and breaking and entering a vehicle.