Henrico Police reclassify woman's death as suicide; murder charges against man dropped

Henrico Police have reclassified the death of a 30-year-old woman in a West End hotel in May as a suicide – not a homicide – and the Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney's Office has dropped murder charges against a 36-year-old man.

Natalie Grace Grant was found suffering from signs of trauma in a room in the 9000 block of Independence Park Drive, just off Gaskins Road, shortly after 5:40 p.m. May 22. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police arrived to the scene and shortly thereafter took 36-year-old John Adam Long into custody; he later was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Detectives within Henrico Police’s Criminal Investigations Section reviewed physical and digital evidence tied to the incident and interviewed people known to the victim, according to police officials.

But in June, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia concluded that Grace's death was a suicide.

This month, after consultation with the Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the charges against Long were dismissed without prejudice.