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28-year-old Karel Mangual arrested and charged for the murder of Chasity Nunez and her daughter Zella Nunez in Worcester neighborhood
Police are still looking for the second suspect, 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis of Worcester.
Karel Mangual, a 28-year-old resident of Worcester, who is one of the two individuals associated with the heartbreaking killings of a mother and daughter in the city, is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
Mangual was apprehended on Wednesday night and faces charges of armed assault to murder and unlawfully carrying a firearm. He will be arraigned at Worcester Central District Court.
Meanwhile, authorities continue to search for the second suspect, 27-year-old Dejan Belnavis, also from Worcester.
Investigators have cautioned that Belnavis “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Both individuals are implicated in the tragic shootings of 27-year-old Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter Zella Nunez.
The mother and daughter were inside a parked SUV on Englewood Avenue on Tuesday afternoon when they were ambushed and their vehicle was subjected to gunfire.
According to court records released on Thursday, security footage depicted two individuals approaching the SUV and opening fire. After the attack, the footage showed them fleeing down the street toward a white sedan.
Police stated that a witness provided them with the license plate number, and upon tracing the owner, it was allegedly revealed that the individual had allowed Belnavis to use the car for the past year.
Authorities later located the car, a 2021 Acura TLX, in Hartford, Connecticut, near the residence of an individual associated with Belnavis.
According to court records, police were able to trace Belnavis’s phone to the scene at the time of the shooting, and security footage indicated his car was “circling the area” shortly before the incident.
However, there is currently no information available regarding the motive behind the murders. Chasity Nunez, a member of the Army Reserves, is survived by another daughter, while Zella Nunez was a fifth-grade student.
Belnavis is wanted on charges of armed assault to murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. Individuals with any information about his whereabouts are encouraged to contact the Worcester Police at 508-799-8651.
