Suspect who stabbed and killed man and his dog in custody

Charlie Dwyer

EVESHAM TOWNSHIP, NJ – A man who is being accused of stabbing and killing a man and his dog in Evesham Township is now in custody, police report tonight.

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Evesham Township Acting Chief of Police Walter Miller announced that charges have been filed against an Evesham Township man following the death of another Evesham resident earlier today.

Donovan G. Hollingsworth, 25, of Crest Road in Evesham, has been charged with Murder (First Degree) and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree and Fourth Degree). He is in custody in the Burlington County Jail, pending a detention hearing to be held in the near future.

More Crime News

Police were called to the Olympus Apartments on Baker Boulevard in Evesham today at 9:13 a.m., for a report of a possible dog attack on a resident of the complex. When police arrived, they discovered Thomas Pierson III, 26, of Evesham, deceased in the residence with multiple stab wounds.


The victim’s dog, a King Corso named Django, was also found deceased with stab wounds, on a stairwell landing. Potential charges related to Django’s death await further investigation into the incident.

An autopsy on Pierson is expected to be performed by the Burlington County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday.

The investigation indicates that Hollingsworth and Pierson, who knew each other, got into an altercation in the apartment, leading to Hollingsworth stabbing Pierson and Django. Hollingsworth left the scene and was taken into custody by Evesham Township Police Officers at the Emergency Department at the Virtua Voorhees Hospital, where Hollingsworth went for treatment for minor injuries from the altercation, shortly after noon today.

The investigation has been conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Evesham Township Police Department. The lead investigators are BCPO Detectives Brian Cunningham and Kevin Merrigan, and ETPD Detective Joseph Magnus.

Hollingsworth will be prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Bob VanGilst, supervisor of the BCPO Major Crimes Unit.

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.