Hudson Falls man arraigned on murder charge in Kingsbury domestic death

Ronald C. Guilder Jr., 45, of Hudson Falls, was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge after Washington County investigators said Jessica Keenan died during a domestic incident at a Kingsbury apartment tied to him. The arraignment put the case in sharper public view: prosecutors now say the death was not just a fatal domestic call, but a homicide investigation under New York State Penal Law section 125.25(1), a class A-I felony.

Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy said deputies arrested Guilder on April 12, 2026, after a joint investigation with New York State Police. The incident unfolded around 5:53 a.m. on Queens Drive in the Town of Kingsbury, at the Kingswood Village Apartments. Court documents later showed the apartment belonged to Guilder, and investigators said the woman who died was known to him and that the death was linked to a domestic situation.

Guilder was lodged at Washington County Jail and was scheduled for centralized arraignment on April 13, where CBS6 reported he pleaded not guilty. He was due back in Kingsbury Town Court on April 15 at 9 a.m. Authorities said the exact cause of death had not yet been determined and that autopsy results were pending, leaving the murder charge in place while the medical findings were still coming in.

The scene drew a heavy emergency response. The sheriff’s office said New York State Police, Fort Edward EMS, Kingsbury Fire, Queensbury EMS, the Washington County Public Safety Bureau of EMS, and Life Net all assisted. That kind of multi-agency response usually signals a major death investigation, and in this case it marked the point where a domestic incident hardened into a homicide case.

Later reporting added more context around the people involved and the apartment complex itself. Neighbors said Keenan had lived at the complex for about three years and remembered her as kind and caring, especially devoted to her dog, Bart. One neighbor said the dog was treated like family. Another resident described the police presence as “very scary” and “unnerving,” with children nearby and officers on scene for more than a day.

WNYT also reported police records showing repeated prior calls involving Guilder from 2021 through 2024, including disturbances and allegations from multiple women. Those records included a January 15, 2024 report in which a woman said Guilder ripped her shirt off and she was afraid, and a July 26, 2024 report in which another woman said he had been harassing and repeatedly contacting her. Investigators did not say those earlier calls led to charges at the time, but they now sit in the background of a case that has moved from a domestic death call to a second-degree murder prosecution.