A Magnolia man is now charged with murder in the death of a 24-year-old woman he had dated on and off.

Jessica Hays, a Tomball High School and Sam Houston State University graduate, died Sunday.

Duane Hill, 25, told deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office that they had a suicide pact. Hill claimed he and Hays were in their RV when she slit her wrists and demanded a gun. 

He was originally charged with assisted suicide, but Friday the charge was upgraded to murder.

MySpace

Jessica Hays

No other details were released.

Hill remains in the Montgomery County Jail.

Neighbors were shocked by Hayes' death.

“We never seen nothing like that coming because like we said we never seen them arguing or nothing. We thought they all got along,” a neighbor said.

Hays’ relatives said from the beginning they didn't believe she committed suicide.

MCSO

Duane Hill

They say she was excited about buying a new home and had been buying furniture for it. Relatives say Hays loved her job and had no reason to kill herself.

They also thought it was suspicious that Hill didn’t call 911. Instead, they say, he called his cousin, and she’s the one who called 911.

Hays’ friends said she and Hill had broken up, and she recently posted on a friend’s MySpace page that she was single.

“From what I understand they were living together and he hadn’t finished moving out but was already sleeping elsewhere,” friend Bekah Harris said.

“I just don’t think Jessica—I just know either her mom or me, if she was really that sad, that we would know,” Harris said. Her death is still under investigation.