A woman in the National Guard and her legally blind daughter were brutally murdered as they sat in a parked SUV on a Massachusetts street Tuesday afternoon, sparking a manhunt for their killers.
According to reports, Chasity Nunez, 27, and her daughter Zera, 11, were found in Worcester, Massachusetts at around 3 p.m. on March 5 with gunshot wounds and bullets in the body of their SUV. ” was found bearing the burden. worcester police station.
Both were taken to the hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.
A mother and daughter were sitting in Nunez’s Nissan Rogue when two men approached and began spraying bullets into the car. Minutes later, witnesses told police they saw the gunmen flee the scene and get into a white sedan, according to the report. NBC 10 Boston.
The newspaper said security camera footage also showed a vehicle that witnesses described as resembling a white sedan circling the area before the shooting and then taking off after a hail of gunfire.
Police have not said whether there was a motive for the horrific shooting.
The department confirmed that one of the murder suspects, Karel Mangal, was arrested Thursday night and charged with armed assault murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Mangal, 28, “already had a warrant for his arrest” when he was taken into custody. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 12, police said.
However, police warned the public Thursday that a second suspected gunman, identified as Dejan Belnavis, was still at large.
Belnavis, 27, is described as “armed and dangerous” and is also wanted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Neighbors said the shooting occurred in an area where children were often seen playing.
“As I was getting ready to run to the store, I heard several shots that sounded like machine gun fire,” said neighbor Michael Mahoney. NBC 10 Boston. “It’s scary to be worried about being shot in your own neighborhood, right?”
The shooting left residents in a neighborhood about 80 miles outside Boston horrified by the senseless violence.
“Today we mourn the senseless loss of two Worcester residents, a mother and daughter whose lives were taken too soon and too tragically.” statement Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty and other city officials made the announcement.
“This kind of violence has no place in our city.”
Mr. Nunez is a decorated patient management specialist who just completed a four-year stint with the 142nd Medical Company, based in Danbury, CT.
Her commander praised her “resourcefulness, sociability, and dedication to duty,” adding that she was “one of the best soldiers” in the unit.
“Our hearts are broken by the loss of Specialist Chasity Nunez to senseless violence,” National Guard Maj. David Pitlik said in a statement. mass live.
“I just can’t understand why this happened and why her family, her friends, her colleagues, her fellow soldiers were robbed of her and Zela,” Pitlik said.
She was scheduled to return to duty in Connecticut on Saturday.
The mother of two also served as the patient safety and clinical quality program coordinator at MIT Health since July 2023, according to the soldier’s LinkedIn. She also worked as a Patient Access Representative at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center starting in March 2021.
“Mr. Chas was passionate about the health and well-being of the MIT community,” Chief Health Officer Cecilia Stuopis said in a statement to MassLive.
“She was loved by the colleagues she worked closely with and her dedication to her patients was powerful and impactful. She will be greatly missed.”
“He’s a great guy,” said Tyree Sims, Zella’s cousin and godfather. NBC 10 Boston The girl was legally blind.
“Zera was just the best. She was the best, so full of life, such a good girl. She didn’t deserve it at all,” Sims said.
In a heartbreaking message to those who murdered her mother and daughter, Ms Sims said she hoped they would “know the gravity of what they have just done – they senselessly took two beautiful souls.” He said he is doing so.
