Terri Hodel, 41, of Allentown pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday and was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in state prison for killing a woman in 2022 in Salisbury Township, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.

Hodel pleaded guility to murder in the third degree, a first-degree felony and was then sentenced by Judge Anna-Kristie M. Marks.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on July 31, 2022, Salisbury Township police were called to 715 E. Federal St. for a welfare check of Hodel, one of the occupants of the home.

Police entered the home after no one answered the door.

Hodel exited a bedroom and told officers she was OK and asked them to leave.

Officers asked about the other occupant of the home, Tracy Lynn Hoffman. Hodel told the officers she had not seen Hoffman and the officers left, but noted Hoffman’s car parked in the driveway.

Police notified Lehigh County Crisis and caseworkers again checked on the welfare of the occupants of the Federal Street home and heard dogs barking, but received no response and made no entry.

The next day, Salisbury Township Animal Control received an email from Hodel asking that they take care of the dogs at the Federal Street home and the door was unlocked.

That same day at approximately 8:47 a.m., Salisbury Township police returned to the home. Officers found a note from Hodel and Hoffman’s body in a bedroom. The Lehigh County Coroner determined Hoffman had been shot and her death was ruled a homicide.

Hodel was later found by police and taken into custody.