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Maria Jane Rawlings: Murder charge over mum found dead near hospital

Met Police Maria Jane RawlingsMet Police
Maria Jane Rawlings had attended King George's Hospital on Monday evening, police said

A man has been charged with murdering a mother of two who was found dead near a hospital in east London.

Maria Jane Rawlings, 45, who lived in the Chelmsford area of Essex, was found in a shrubbery in Romford on 4 May by a man who had been walking his dog.

Valentin Lazar, from Barking, has been charged with her murder, the Met Police said.

The 20-year-old is due to appear in custody at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

PA Media FlowersPA Media
Flowers were left at Little Heath in Romford where Maria Jane Rawlings was found dead by a man walking his dog

Ms Rawlings had attended the King George Hospital in Goodmayes, Ilford, on the evening of 3 May before she left on foot to Barley Lane in the direction of the A12.

A post-mortem examination gave her preliminary cause of death as neck compression and possible blunt-force head trauma.