Jerome Rivers called Gia Pender to ask if he could stay with her​. The call sent Pender, who had an order of protection against Rivers, scrambling to a neighbor. “Jerome is coming over​,​” ​she told the neighbor. “​I​f anything happens to me, give this to my mother​,​”​ she added presciently. Pender 49 ​ feared the 52-year-old​ Rivers​, who had been jailed for ​two months ​because he violated the terms of his release

as an offender by attacking her. He later told cops he didn’t “have a reason to kill her,” according to the ​DA’s office, but​ he made a point of telling them she’d stolen his checks, “disrespected his mother, and had him locked up on trumped-up domestic abuse charges.” Officials determined Pender had been strangled. Rivers was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and criminal contempt, and held without bail. Watch Video Below