The Schuylkill County district attorney has revsersed the ruling of the county coroner and said the killing of a Pottsville woman in June was a justified homicide.

Ruth Ann Golden died on June 8 inside her apartment at 717 Mahantongo St. which she shared with Joseph Pinnelle.At the time of her death Dr. Richard Bindie, who conducted the autopsy on the woman, ruled the death a homicide which was concurred by the county coroner's office.DA James Goodman's office said that Pinnelle acted in self-defense during the incident. However, because he did not immediately report the incident and left the body in the apartment for over 44 hours, he was charged with abuse of a corpse.The DA's office gave the following account for what happened.On June 8 about 3 a.m. Golden returned to the apartment highly intoxicated and initiated a domestic dispute with Pinnelle. During the dispute Golden repeatedly bit Pinnelle on his left hand, left forearm and left stomach area resulting in injuries ultimately requiring medical care and follow-up.As Pinnelle continued to struggle with Golden in an effort to stop her attack he used his left hand to push Golden's face away while she was biting down on his right hand. During this series of events Pinnelle realized that Golden "went limp" and stopped breathing.Bindie, the DA reported, listed the cause of death as cardio respiratory arrest and positional asphyxia, or, during the altercation the head and neck of Golden were pushed to the side resulting in a loss of oxygen. Other contributing factors listed in Bindie's report were obesity, alcohol intoxication, recurrent syncope, a possible seizure disorder and recurring severe health problems.The DA report further stated, "In the instant case, the use of force by Joseph Pinnelle was legally justified because at the actual time of the event Mr. Pinnelle believed that such force was necessary for the purpose of protecting himself against the use of unlawful force by Ms. Golden when she was attacking him by biting him." The report adds, "Therefore, Pinnelle's actions have been classified as justified and no criminal homicide charges will be filed."At the time of the incident Pinnelle covered the body with a blanket and left it in the apartment while he fled to his sister's home in Massachusettes. He was brought back to Pottsville by his sister two days later and turned himself into police.