A 21-year-old woman was found dead in her apartment the evening of Oct. 17 and her estranged boyfriend has been arrested in connection with her death.

    Family members had last seen Jessica M. Smith the afternoon of Oct. 15 and police found her in her White Oak condominium after relatives had reported her missing, said Lt. James Hosfelt, spokesman for the Dover Police Department.

    Her body was sent to the medical examiner who released the cause of death Oct. 20.
    “The cause of death was asphyxiation due to suffocation with a contributing factor of blunt force trauma to the back of the head,” Hosfelt said.

    Specifically, he would not say what was placed over the woman’s head to suffocate her or what she was hit with on the back of the head.

    A nationwide broadcast describing her missing vehicle helped New Jersey police find and arrest Smith’s former boyfriend, identified as Ernest Bowen, of Jamaica, N.Y.

    “The car was parked two blocks from his mother’s in New Jersey,” Hosfelt said.

    Bowen was taken into custody Oct. 18 and is being held on charges of first-degree murder, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony and theft.

    He was denied bail in an Oct. 20 bond hearing, and is scheduled for an extradition hearing Oct. 27. New York City Police also executed a search warrant at Bowen’s New York City home and obtained further evidence linking him to Smith’s murder, Hosfelt said.

Email Melissa K. Steele at melissa.steele@doverpost.com