2 Worcester men suspected of killing mother, daughter held without bail

A Worcester County Superior Court judge charged two men in connection with the shooting deaths of a Worcester mother and her 11-year-old daughter in March.

On Tuesday, Dejan Belnavis, 27, of Worcester, and Karel Mangual, 28, of Worcester, were charged with two counts each of murder. Both men were indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury on Sept. 5.

Along with fatally shooting her mother Chasity Nunez, both men were charged in connection with beating Zella to death. On each of these counts, Belnavis and Mangual pleaded not guilty.

Boston-based defense attorney Rosemary Scapicchio represented Belnavis while lawyer Richard Farrell represented Mangual. Scapicchio previously helped free Sean Ellis after he was found guilty of the 1993 murder of a Boston police detective, which featured in the Netflix documentary “Trial 4.”

Their lawyers requested that their clients not physically appear in the courtroom, but rather appear behind a door. Scapicchio argued that their appearance could lead to “presentation bias” for potential jurors. Ritter accepted their request.

Judge William Ritter ordered that Belnavis and Mangual be held without bail. The two men are expected to appear again in court on Nov. 21.

Before their names were called, officers with the Worcester Police Crime Gun Intelligence Unit sat in the courtroom.

Both men were arrested in March. Nunez and her daughter were found shot inside their car on Englewood Avenue on March 5. They were taken to the hospital shortly after, where both were pronounced dead.

Mangual was arrested on March 7 and first charged in Worcester Central District Court with armed assault to murder and carrying a firearm without a license, county prosecutors said. But, on March 12 his charges were upgraded to murder.

Belnavis went on the run and was caught by police in San Diego after a motor vehicle stop on March 11, prosecutors said. After he returned to Worcester on March 29, Belnavis was arrested in Worcester Central District Court on two murder charges, prosecutors said.

Mangual and Belnavis have been held in custody since. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

The Nunez family raised $55,701 through a GoFundMe that would financially support them ahead of the mother and daughter’s funerals.

Another GoFundMe set up by an MIT Health organizer raised $8,075 to go toward creating a scholarship for Nunez’s daughter Isla. Nunez worked at MIT as a patient safety and clinical quality program coordinator at MIT Health since July 2023, MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen told MassLive.

Nunez was a decorated patient administration specialist of the Connecticut National Guard’s 142nd Medical Company based in Danbury, National Guard Major David Pytlik said in a statement to MassLive. She received the National Defense Service Medal, the Service Ribbon and the Army Achievement Medal, and served for four years after she began in 2020.

“I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella,” Pytlik said. “What we can, and must do now, is support one another as we grieve, process this profound loss and honor their memory.”

Three Columbus Park School teachers and the school’s principal also mourned Zella’s death in the wake of the shooting. Principal Lisa Carignan said Zella was “a remarkable student … with her radiant joy, peace, and love, made her a standout scholar both in and out of the classroom.”

Teacher Michele Sebastyanski said her sixth-grade class “lost a vital member” and “a shining light.”