Evesham, NJ man charged with murder in brutal stabbing death of a man and his dog

An Evesham Township man has been charged with the brutal murder of a man at the Olympus Apartments on Baker Boulevard Saturday morning.

Hours after having a person of interest in custody, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Evesham Township Acting Chief of Police Walter Miller announced charges were filed against 25-year old Donovan G. Hollingsworth of Crest Road, for first-degree Murder, and two counts of Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose which are Third Degree and Fourth Degree crimes.

Hollingsworth remains in custody in the Burlington County Jail, pending a detention hearing.

What the BCPO and Evesham Police learned over the course of the investigation was that Hollingsworth stabbed Thomas Pierson III, 26, multiple times and then allegedly stabbed his dog, a King Corso named Django, who was found in a stairwell landing inside Pierson's residence.

While the murder and and weapons charges are for Hollingsworth killing Pierson, there are potential charges coming for the death of Django, the dog.

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The Burlington County Medical Examiner will conduct an attest of Pierson on Monday.

Police were called to the apartment complex at 9:13 Saturday morning, and learned in their investigation, that Hollingsworth and Pierson knew each other and got into a fight inside the apartment.

Suddenly, Hollingsworth then stabbed Pierson and his dog Django.

After leaving the scene, Hollingsworth, was arrested by Evesham Police at the Emergency Department at the Virtua Voorhees Hospital around 12:00 pm, where he had gone for treatment of minor injuries from the altercation.

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