A high school football coach in Georgia faces charges connected to the death of his girlfriend, Maryland police said.

Carl Kearney Jr. was charged with first- and second-degree murder after his girlfriend, Patrina Best, was found dead Saturday, Feb. 17, in her Accokeek home, according to a Feb. 18 Prince George’s County Police Department news release.

Kearney went to a police station at about 9:20 a.m. on Saturday to tell officers he strangled Best, the department said.

Officers arrived at the home for a welfare check and found Best, 38, unresponsive, police said. Best was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the department.

Kearney, 43, was head coach of the Spalding High School varsity football team in Griffin, according to the school’s athletics website. The team went 12-1 and competed in the Georgia High School Association Class AAAA state football playoffs during the 2023 season.

Best’s death came a few days after the Spalding football team held its annual banquet, which pictures on Facebook showed Kearney had attended.

Griffin Spalding County Schools, the district Spalding High School belongs to, did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Feb. 19.

Best was remembered as someone who “made the best out of life,” Emily Smalley Horne, her college roommate from Georgia Southern University, wrote on Facebook. She was the first person Horne said she asked to be a part of her wedding.

“Life was definitely better with Patrina in it,” Horne said in her post.

Kearney confessed to homicide detectives that he strangled his girlfriend during an argument, police said. He was taken into custody by the Maryland Department of Corrections, according to police.

Accokeek is about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C.

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