With Gang Unit in courtroom, suspect in double slaying held without bail; 2nd suspect sought

WORCESTER ― Authorities Thursday arraigned one man and were searching for another in connection with the fatal shooting of a mother and her daughter Tuesday inside an SUV on Englewood Avenue.

Police alleged in court documents that two men, Dejan D. Belnavis and Karel Mangual, opened fire on an SUV parked on Englewood Avenue around 3 p.m. Tuesday, killing a woman and her 11-year-old daughter. Police Wednesday identified the mother as Chasity Nunez, and the daughter as Zella Nunez, a student of the city school system.

More: Suspects in murder of Worcester mother and daughter have long list of past charges

Mangual, 28, who is listed as living on Sterling Street, was arrested Wednesday in Worcester and held without bail following arraignment in Central District Court Thursday. Police were still searching for Belnavis, 27, whom court papers list as living on Toronita Avenue.

Belnavis, who has nearly 20 prior criminal cases in the city, is considered armed and dangerous, police said. He is listed at around 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds, police said, with black hair and brown eyes.

Both men are charged with armed assault with intent to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.

More: Worcester police: Englewood Avenue shooting victims were mother and daughter

Mangual never entered the courtroom Thursday after his lawyer, without opposition, asked a judge to allow him to appear behind a door.

Such requests are often made in high-profile cases in which the suspect's identification is expected to be a legal issue.

Court records show Mangual has a history of alleged violence and was referred to as a violent gang member by police in other cases.

In 2015, Mangual was arrested after what Worcester police called a retaliatory shooting behind an apartment building on View Street. Authorities connected the attack to the fatal shooting of Christian Obeng-Addo days earlier.

More: Chasity Nunez, victim of Worcester homicide, remembered as exemplary employee, soldier

Several members of the Worcester Police Gang Unit were present in court Thursday for Mangual's arraignment.

Assistant District Attorney David Feraco read a statement of facts in which police allege Mangual and Belnavis were caught on surveillance video approaching the Nunez' SUV and firing into it just after 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Police wrote in court documents seeking a warrant for Belnavis that the surveillance video shows “the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting.”

They said the shooters then ran in the direction where a witness said a white sedan was parked. Surveillance video and witness evidence, police said, showed a vehicle “consistent” with the sedan circling the area before the shooting and leaving the area afterward.

Police were able to get the sedan's license plate and speak to its owner, who told them Belnavis had borrowed it for about a year. Belnavis was listed as the driver of the car following a Shrewsbury crash in January, they said, and his cellphone records tie him to Englewood Avenue at the time of the shooting.

“Realizing the need to locate this vehicle after the murder of two people and the danger presented to the public, we used the vehicle’s connected car system, through AT&T and we were able to locate the vehicle in Hartford, Connecticut,” police wrote, adding they learned Belnavis had a relative close to where the vehicle was parked in Hartford.

Police allege in court documents that video shows Mangual and Belvanis exiting the vehicle in Hartford, and that both men were wearing shoes similar to the ones worn by the shooters.

They said Mangual was wearing the same distinctive purple and black shoes in both videos. An officer who has known Mangual since childhood, they said, identified him on the video from Hartford.

Mangual is due back in court Tuesday for a hearing on whether he is too dangerous to release.

Police said Belnavis does not have a license to carry and “does have prior firearm charges in 2021.”

City leaders Wednesday released a statement on the deaths, saying such violence has no place in Worcester.

The statement from City Manager Eric D. Batista, Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Interim Police Chief Paul Saucier and Schools Superintendent Rachel Monárrez reads, in part: "Worcester is a resilient community, and we know that our residents will lovingly embrace the victims’ family and friends as we work toward healing from this traumatic event.”

Zella was involved in the Our Bright Future youth program.

"Zella, you are loved, and may you both rest in peace," the organization wrote on social media.

In a statement Wednesday evening, City Councilor Khrystian E. King offered condolences for family members and school-aged peers: "Those responsible for these depraved killings must be brought to justice, in full cooperation with local law enforcement."

Asked about the comment Wednesday night, King told the T&G he is concerned more violence could follow.

Tuesday's double-homicide was the second daylight shooting in Worcester in as many days. Monday, an 18-year-old male was injured by gunfire in the area of 2 Main St., near the old Worcester County Courthouse. The 4:30 p.m. shooting remains under investigation.

Gov. Maura T. Healey characterized the killing as "a trauma" for the city. Healey was in Worcester Thursday morning for an event hosted by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce at the AC Hotels by Marriott.

“Chasity and Zella Nunez, a mom and her daughter, lost their lives to a violent act," Healey said in a statement later released by her staff. "Members of the Worcester Public Schools community are with us, and while I know they must be shaken themselves, they are continuing to help students process this frightening and senseless loss."

-With reports from staff writers Toni Caushi and Marco Cartolano

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: One in custody, another man sought in connection with Worcester double murder