Grandmother Beaten to Death on Birthday

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A woman visiting her grandmother for the elderly woman's birthday found her grandmother beaten to death.

A Fayette County coroner's report says 78-year-old Marilyn Hegge died of a head injury after an assault Sunday.

Lexington police Lt. Scott Blakely says Hegge's adult granddaughter found her in a bedroom, but the house was not broken into.

Family members told The Lexington Herald-Leader they gathered at the home for Thanksgiving dinner and planned to return Sunday for a birthday celebration.

Hegge was a retired University of Kentucky neonatal nurse.

Police are investigating the incident as a homicide.