Report: Death of N.C. guidance counselor ruled a homicide

NEWTON, N.C. - The death of a 31-year-old guidance counselor found in her apartment is being investigated as a homicide after police received autopsy results Monday, reports CBS affiliate WBTV.

Investigators released few details about the death of Margaret "Maggie" Daniels, who was found dead around 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Newton, N.C., about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte. Police did not reveal cause of death or if there are any leads in the case, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Neighbors say someone who went to Daniels' apartment after she wouldn't answer her phone found her not breathing.

A 911 call from a man who called himself a friend of the victim was released Monday, the paper reports. "One of my friends is in her apartment, and I think she's been in there for like a day," the man said. "She was in there laying down. I didn't even want to touch her... it shook me up when I seen her."

Joe McCorkle, the apartment complex's janitor, said he last saw Daniels around 11 a.m. Friday. He was there when police arrived at the scene. "It just tore me up to pieces," McCorkle told the paper. "She was a good girl."

Newton-Conover City Schools officials say Daniels was hired as a high school English teacher in 2006 and became a guidance counselor last year after completing her master's degree.

McCorkle told the Observer Daniels moved into the complex just over a year ago, and that he would often see her run outside, sometimes with friends. He said she tended to leave her door unlocked, something not uncommon for residents.

Daniels was the Newton-Conover City Schools' teacher of the year in 2011.

"Our hearts are definitely broken," said Aron Gabriel, assistant superintendent of the school district. "[Teaching] just seemed very natural to her. I think she really was like a hand in a glove," he told the paper.

WBTV reports a spokesperson for Daniels family released a statement Monday night. "We are deeply saddened by the terrible news surrounding the death of our loved one, Maggie Daniels," the statement read. "Words cannot describe the grief that we are going through right now. We, as a family, have decided not to comment while there is an ongoing investigation."