The second suspect in the Worcester, Massachusetts, shooting that left a mother and her 11-year-old daughter dead is appeared in a California courtroom on Friday.
San Diego police arrested 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis on Monday after nearly a week on the run. He is facing multiple charges, including armed assault and murder.
Belnavis was arrested during a vehicle stop, six days after Chasity Nunez, 27, and her daughter, Zella Nunez, were shot in a parked SUV in a Worcester neighborhood, police said. They were pronounced dead at a hospital.
The arrest came several hours after the U.S. Marshals Service said it had doubled a reward in connection with the search for Belnavis, from $5,000 to $10,000.
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Police said Belnavis, who had cut most of his hair off and was wearing glasses, did not try to run when authorities tracked him down, and no one was injured when he was arrested by U.S. Marshals near the Mexico border. It's unclear whether Belnavis was trying to make his way into Mexico.
The two suspects initially were accused of armed assault with intent to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.
Karel Mangual, 28, who was arrested last week in Worcester, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to upgraded charges of murder. Lawyers on both sides agreed that he be held without bail, considering the nature of the charges. His next hearing is scheduled for April 12.
Belnavis will also be charged with murder, authorities have said. He appeared in court in San Diego on Friday and signed a waiver of extradition, meaning he can now be brought back to Massachusetts to face charges. His court appearance in Worcester has not been scheduled yet, the Worcester District Attorney's Office said.
Police said in court documents that surveillance video shows “the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting.” Video also showed a car consistent with a witness description circling the area before the shooting and leaving afterward, the documents said. The vehicle was later found in Hartford, Connecticut.
Authorities have not released a potential motive for the killings or said whether there was any relationship between the men and the victims.
Meanwhile, the Worcester community is saying goodbye to the two victims of the shooting. Hundreds of people turned out to pay their respects to Chastity and Zella Nunez on Thursday.
Chasity Nunez was a member of the Connecticut National Guard and worked as patient safety and clinical quality coordinator at MIT Healthcare Innovation, according to her obituary. She also had a younger daughter.
Zella Nunez was a sixth-grade student at Columbus Park School in Worcester who “wanted to dabble in everything from painting, singing, dancing to skating,” the obituary said.
The lines for visiting hours at the Callahan Fay & Caswell Funeral home on Myrtle Street on Thursday spilled out of the building down the sidewalk. With the street full of patrol cars, family, friends, and relatives said their goodbye to the pair. In attendance were uniformed members of the National Guard, who said Nunez was very loved by her colleagues in the 142 Company Medical.
Manuel Forti, a pastor and friend of the family, said everyone in attendance was sharing in the tragedy with the family.
