Authorities say a home camera recorded a prolonged assault before Christin Hamilton was found dead on her porch.

SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A home surveillance system recorded what Pennsylvania State Police say was a fatal assault lasting more than an hour on a Westmoreland County porch, giving investigators a visual account that became central to the criminal homicide case against 29-year-old Jakob Korber in the death of his mother, Christin Hamilton.

Hamilton, 53, was found severely injured and unresponsive outside her home on Herminie West Newton Road on the morning of Aug. 30. A relative called 911 after discovering her on the front porch, according to the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. Authorities later identified Korber as Hamilton’s son and charged him with one count of criminal homicide. He was taken into custody that evening and denied bail at arraignment. The charge is an accusation, and Korber is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Investigators said the residence had a camera positioned to record the front of the property. The footage showed Hamilton and Korber in an argument before the encounter became violent, authorities said. Police allege Korber then attacked Hamilton with his hands and feet and used several objects that were on the porch. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani told Pittsburgh-area reporters that the recording showed the assault continuing for more than an hour. Authorities have not publicly disclosed what started the argument or identified a confirmed motive for the alleged killing.

The recording also gave investigators an unusually detailed chronology of the morning, according to police accounts reported by several Pittsburgh news organizations. Limani said Hamilton appeared to have recently showered and was wearing a towel as she began her morning and let a dog outside. She had coffee with her, he said. Police allege the confrontation began soon afterward. Limani said Hamilton pleaded during the assault, but people nearby apparently did not hear her calls for help. Her daughter was inside the home at the time, according to police, yet investigators said she did not hear what was happening outside.

Hamilton’s daughter later went looking for her mother and found her on the porch at about 9 a.m., authorities said. Local reports citing the criminal complaint said she told investigators there was a significant amount of blood at the scene. Emergency responders and police arrived, but Hamilton was pronounced dead. Officials described multiple injuries but did not needlessly detail them publicly. The district attorney’s announcement said only that she had been severely injured, while police focused their public account on the duration of the attack and the surveillance evidence they said documented it.

By then, Korber was no longer at the property. Limani said investigators believed he changed clothes after the attack and left the area on foot. Police later said he apparently slept in a nearby field while troopers searched for him. State police circulated information about Korber and asked the public to report sightings, turning the homicide investigation into an hours-long search around Sewickley Township. The search ended later that day after residents reported seeing him walking in the area near the home.

Korber eventually approached the property while police were still there. A KDKA-TV camera captured part of his surrender as officers confronted him near the driveway. Video showed him kneeling and placing his hands over his head before troopers took him into custody without further incident. Police said the arrest came after several hours of searching. The circumstances of the surrender added another recorded element to a case in which investigators had already relied heavily on camera footage from the house itself.

Investigators then interviewed Korber. According to police accounts and reporting based on the criminal complaint, he told troopers that if Hamilton was dead, he was the person who had caused her death. Authorities characterized the statement as a confession, though its precise legal significance will be determined through the court process. Limani said Korber displayed what the trooper described as only limited remorse during the interview. Police have not publicly released a full recording or transcript of the questioning, and the reported statement should not be read as a substitute for a finding of guilt.

The daughter who found Hamilton also told investigators that Korber had recently made threats involving her and their mother, according to reports describing the criminal complaint. Those allegations added context to investigators’ account but did not establish why the Aug. 30 confrontation occurred. Police have not announced a specific motive. The district attorney’s public summary said surveillance showed an argument followed by the assault, but it did not state what the two were discussing or whether authorities believe a particular event triggered the violence.

The criminal case also sits beside a different public record of Hamilton’s life. Her obituary described her as a 53-year-old West Newton resident who worked in the sales department at Home Depot and had previously worked for Manor House Kitchens. Her family remembered her as compassionate, down to earth and friendly, as well as artistic and colorful. She enjoyed music, played guitar and loved animals. The obituary listed a daughter, Zoey Greenwood, and a son, Benjamin Greenwood, among surviving relatives. It also said Hamilton had been preceded in death by her husband, Christopher Greenwood, along with other family members.

Those details provide a broader picture of a woman whose name first entered regional headlines through a homicide investigation. The official case announcement was necessarily focused on evidence, arrest and charges, while Hamilton’s obituary described work, interests and family connections built over decades. Funeral arrangements were entrusted to J. William McCauley Jr. Funeral Home in West Newton, with services held privately and a celebration of life to be announced later, according to the obituary published after her death.

The public evidence described so far is notable for how much of the alleged sequence investigators say was documented rather than reconstructed solely from later witness interviews. Police say the camera showed the argument, the assault and its prolonged duration. Investigators then used observations from the scene, statements from Hamilton’s daughter and Korber’s later interview as additional parts of the case. Even so, major questions remain outside the public record, including what prompted the argument and what evidence prosecutors may present beyond the surveillance recording and reported statements.

Korber was initially ordered held without bail at the Westmoreland County Prison after being arraigned on the homicide charge. Early reports listed a preliminary hearing for Sept. 14, but the publicly accessible sources reviewed for this report did not establish the outcome of that scheduled proceeding or verify a later court disposition. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s public case page continues to identify the matter as a current criminal homicide case. No conviction has been established in the sources reviewed, and further court developments should be treated separately from the allegations police announced after Hamilton’s death.

Author note: Last updated October 19, 2026.