Hundreds of people lined up in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Thursday to pay their respects to a mother and daughter who were killed in the city last week.
Chasity Nunez, 27, and her 11-year-old daughter Zella were shot to death while sitting in their car last Tuesday, March 5. The lines for visiting hours at the Callahan Fay & Caswell Funeral home on Myrtle Street spilled out of the building down the sidewalk.
Nunez, who was born in Worcester according to her obituary, served as a member of the Connecticut National Guard, worked at MIT, and was studying for her second master's degree. Zella was a Worcester Public Schools student with an "optimistic and creative soul" who enjoyed learning Tiktok dances.
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.
Two suspects are in custody in the case.
U.S. Marshals took Dejan Dante Belnavis into custody in San Diego, California, following a weeklong manhunt sparked by the shooting deaths of 27-year-old Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter Zella.
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Karel Mangual, 28, of Worcester, was arrested last Wednesday night and charged with armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license.
Mangual had a dangerousness hearing on Tuesday where his charges were upgraded to murder, and he was ordered held without bail. It was not immediately clear when his next court date is.
Police say 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. The DA says it’s unclear at this time whether Belnavis was trying to make his way into Mexico.
Worcester's police chief says authorities were all in on the search.
Investigators say it’s unclear if Belnavis will waive extradition, or if detectives will have to travel to California for that legal process.
