Dejan Belnavis in a Worcester, Massachusetts, court on Friday, March 29, 2024, to face charges including murder in a double shooting that left a mother and daughter dead.
A man accused in the killing of a mother and daughter in Worcester earlier this month is back in Massachusetts and faced charges, including murder, in court on Friday.
Dejan Belnavis had been arrested in San Diego, California, nearly a week after the deadly shooting., Another man, Karel Mangual, has also been charged with murder in the killings of Chasity Nunez, 27, and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella Nunez.
Belnavis was held without bail at a short hearing in Worcester Central District Court. He's due back in court May 2.
Authorities also noted that Belnavis was wanted out of Westborough District Court.
Belnavis was represented by attorney Tom Vukmirovits.
The Nunezes were shot in a parked SUV in a Worcester neighborhood on March 5, police said. They were pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities were offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information connected to his arrest.
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 in San Diego; 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.
Belnavis and Mangual were initially only suspected of armed assault with intent to murder and carrying a firearm without a license, but their charges were upgraded. Mangual has previously pleaded not guilty to the upgraded charges; he's due back in court April 12.
Police have 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
