A 26-year-old Maryland woman allegedly confessed to killing her 92-year-old roommate.

Julia Birch, 26, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Nancy Ann Frankel, who was found dead around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday in her Kensington home.

Birch allegedly told Montgomery County police officers that she suffocated Frankel, according to a charging document obtained by PEOPLE.

Officers found Frankel dead in her bedroom and notified homicide detectives.

During an interview with police, Birch allegedly admitted to the slaying again and said she then called 911.

“She stated that she suffocated her, and there was evidence recovered from the crime scene which was consistent with the statement that she provided,” according to the charging document.

Frankel’s son-in-law Bill Streit told the Washington Post that the roommates had met through relatives and were longtime family friends.

“We watched her grow up,” he said. “Even in our wildest imagining, no one would have ever ever ever thought this could possibly happen.”

Streit said Birch moved into Frankel’s home a few months ago.

Frankel was a well known sculptor whose work dates back to the 1960s.

“I use ‘organic geometry’ to give form to my love of nature and architecture,” she wrote on her website. “Space, either encapsulated or activated, and a sense of balance, precarious yet centered, are integral to my work.”

Birch is being held without bond.

It is unclear if she has entered a plea.