PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- It's a year that can't end soon enough for Pittsfield after several homicides. The year, however, hasn't ended without another act of violence.
A husband accused of killing his wife in their Pittsfield home now sits in jail. Timothy Gill, 38, pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, 37-year-old Halena Gill. Police discovered her body last Thursday in their apartment in the city's west side. A neighbor of theirs spoke to us Tuesday, asking to remain unidentified.
"Just feeling kind of sad and worried, actually, because I have kids over here," the neighbor said.
A medical examiner ruled Halena Gill's death a homicide by strangulation. Her surprised neighbor said she didn't really know the Gills.
"My boyfriend and my kids [saw] her walk down the street with her dog a couple of times; they pretty much kept to themselves," the neighbor said. "Other than that, I never really heard from them."
The city's west side has seen a fatal shooting over the summer, just two blocks away from the Gills' Madison Avenue apartment.
"For the most part, it's a pretty quiet neighborhood," said the neighbor. "People keep to themselves, so when you hear something like this happen, it's pretty disturbing, actually."
Over the course of this year, residents have recalled the days they said violence wasn't something they'd think to put in the same sentence as their city. Now, it's getting hard not to.
"Pittsfield never used to be a city like this," said the neighbor. "Hearing a murder or anything like that happen in Pittsfield was not heard of. And then, within the recent years, it's actually been very outrageous with the violence that's going on in our city."