A pregnant Massachusetts woman was stabbed to death hours after she complained that her boyfriend had punched her around her pregnant belly. Authorities say the stabbing was carried out by her boyfriend’s homeless brother, who they had taken in.
Brianna Welsh, 25, was found dead in her Lynn home on July 31 with “multiple sharp object” wounds. According to the Essex County District Attorney’s OfficeShe was about three months pregnant at the time.
Just the day before, a pregnant woman called 911 to report that her boyfriend, Brendan Vozzella, had punched her in the stomach. NBC10 reported.
Vozzella, 24, was arrested around 2 p.m. and held overnight while Welsh was treated at a nearby hospital.
She returned to the apartment about 6:15 p.m., when authorities believe Brendan’s 26-year-old brother, Zachary Vozzella, stabbed her to death before running away, according to prosecutors.
Zachary Vozzella was homeless at the time and lived with the couple, Assistant District Attorney Kate McDougall said in court last week.
Welsh’s body was discovered on the bedroom floor the next day when her mother called the building manager to check on her, according to NBC10.
She had cuts on her neck, legs and abdomen, prosecutors said. According to MassLive:Her boyfriend was in custody at the time.
Zachary initially claimed he’d been at the Dunkin’ Donuts all day, but after investigators proved that wasn’t the case, he admitted to going to his brother’s apartment between 2 and 8:30 p.m. but claimed he didn’t see Welsh, NBC10 reported.
Investigators later found Welsh’s keychain in a backpack at the home of a relative where Zachary was also staying, as well as clothing and a bloodstained knife.
Investigators said data from the key fob showed that Welsh had used the key around 6:15 p.m. on the day he was last seen, and that the last person to leave the apartment had disappeared around 8:30 p.m.
Video footage also showed Zachary carrying a backpack and garbage bags and heading to another relative’s house.
Zachary Vozzella pleaded not guilty Aug. 1 to one count of murder and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, according to the district attorney’s office.
He is currently being held without bail until his Sept. 10 hearing.
During a court hearing last week, Mr McDougall said there were “some indications” that Welsh wanted Zachary to leave the apartment before his death.
Zachary’s lawyer, Francisco Napolitano, He told WHDH He maintained that his client did not murder Welsh.
Brendon Vozzella was charged Wednesday with assault and battery on a pregnant victim and assault and battery on a family member.
Judge Ina Howard Hogan deemed him a danger to the community and ordered him to remain in custody for the next 120 days, MassLive reported.
“The tragic violence that took the lives of Brianna Welsh and her unborn child has been an unbearable loss for her family,” Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said in a statement.
“While their loss cannot be repaired or remedied, we hope that our efforts to seek justice on her behalf will reassure them that we and the community have their support.”
Welsh’s family set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses, noting that she planned to find out the gender of her baby shortly after she was killed.
“Sadly, she was taken from us and murdered in her own home and we are all lost without her,” the page read. “She was a bright, shining star that was lost before her time.”
As of Thursday, the fundraiser had raised more than $16,600 of its $18,000 goal.
