Mom, 11-year-old daughter die after they’re found shot in parked car, MA cops say
The search for a suspect accused of murder is on in Massachusetts after a mother and daughter were shot and killed, police said.
The mother and her 11-year-old daughter were found by police inside a parked car with severe gunshot wounds, according to a news release from the Worchester Police Department on March 6. One man in connection to their deaths is in custody while police search for another suspect, according to the department.
Responders took the mother and her child to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead, police said. The mother was identified as Chasity Nunez, and the daughter was identified as Zella Nunez, according to police.
Karel Mangual, 28, was arrested the same night the two were killed, police said. He is charged with armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license, according to the department.
However, police are searching for a second individual, 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis. He is accused of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of a firearm with out a license, police said.
Belnavis is considered “armed and dangerous,” according to the department.
Chasity Nunez was a mother of two, Zella and a younger daughter named Isla, according to her Instagram. She posted a TikTok in 2023 calling her children “the best part of me.”
Several people who knew the mother and her daughter mourned their deaths on social media.
Chasity was a “farmer and a friend to many,” Grace Sliwoski, who knew her through the agriculture summer program YouthGROW in Worchester, wrote on Facebook. While she was a member of the program, Chasity gave birth to Zella, Sliwoski said.
“I was horrified to learn that she and her daughter Zella were senselessly killed on Tuesday,” Sliwoski said.
Zella was a “beloved” student who took part in Our Bright Future Inc., which teaches children about robotics, 3D printing and sports, according to the nonprofit’s March 6 Facebook post.
“Zella, you are loved, and may you both rest in peace,” the program wrote.
The City of Worchester released a statement following their deaths, calling the shooting a “senseless loss.” Chasity and Zella were “taken far too soon and far too tragically,” the city said.
“The loss of life, of these two precious human beings, a mother and daughter, I just have no words for how devastating this feels,” Worchester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj told WBZ.
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