WASHINGTON — A 19-year-old has been arrested in the apparent strangulation of a Silver Spring, Maryland, teen.

Montgomery County police investigators Thursday charged Tysean Lipford with first-degree homicide in the death of Christian Leroy Matthews, 17.

Police were called early Tuesday morning to Matthews’ residence in the 1000 block of Mondrian Terrace in Silver Spring, following a 911 call reporting a suspicious situation. Residents had reported hearing a large commotion coming from the basement, where the victim lived with his sisters.

Officers searched the residence at the request of the sisters and found Matthews unresponsive in his basement bedroom. Officers also found suspicious marks to the victim’s neck. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Lipford, identified as the father of the victim’s niece, confessed to the crime, authorities said.

He allegedly told authorities that he killed Matthews in his sleep.