A Coatesville man killed his roommate after an argument over a dog, police say

Uley Hines had been friends with Keith Boggs’ parents for years. So when Boggs needed a place to stay, Hines opened up his home on Coatesville’s Graham Avenue to him.

But that decades-long friendship ended in violence Saturday, when Hines shot Boggs, 61, on the steps of that home over an argument about Hines’ dog, investigators said Tuesday.

Hines, 83, has been charged with first- and third-degree murder in connection with Boggs’ death. There was no indication that he had hired a lawyer, and he remained in custody, denied bail.

Chester County District Attorney Deborah Ryan called the shooting “a senseless crime” and offered her condolences to Boggs’ family.

Boggs’ younger sister, Roxanne, said Tuesday that news of the slaying devastated her family, even more so when they learned that his alleged killer was someone they all deeply trusted.

“Keith was a beautiful person,” she said from her home in Arizona. “Of course, he had his issues — he was human like everyone else — but he did not deserve this.”

Her brother was the oldest of three, and leaves behind an 8-year-old daughter, she said. He had lived with Hines for about six years, she said; Boggs had turned to Hines when he was down on his luck and needed a place to stay.

Hines, a longtime friend of Boggs’ mother, was practically family, she said. Boggs’ cousin told investigators that everyone referred to him as “Uncle Uley,” according to the affidavit of probable cause for Hines’ arrest.

Coatesville police were called to Hines’ home for reports of an unconscious man on the front steps, the affidavit said. When officers arrived, they saw that Boggs had been shot once in the upper chest. He was taken to Paoli Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Inside the home, a young girl, later identified as the daughter of Hines’ other roommate, was screaming for help. As the officers went to help her, they noticed a bloody shoe print and drops of blood near the home’s front door, according to the affidavit.

A neighbor told detectives that she knows Hines and Boggs, and had been sitting in her living room, reading her Bible, on the morning of the shooting. She said she had heard the two men arguing, and said Boggs at one point asked Hines, “What do you want me to do with this dog?”

Boggs walked the dog back into the home, after which the woman said she heard two gunshots, the affidavit said. Hines screamed at Boggs, telling him “I told you to stop [expletive] with me,” according to the woman.

She said she then saw Boggs lying on the steps in front of the home.

Hours after the shooting, detectives tracked Hines through his vehicle to another block in Coatesville not far from his home and took him into custody, the affidavit said.