Top inset: Zachary Vozzella. Bottom inset: Brianna Welsh. Background: The apartment complex where Welsh was killed (WBZ).
A Massachusetts man is accused of stabbing his brother’s pregnant ex-girlfriend to death in the apartment the three shared while his brother was in custody in a domestic violence case involving the woman the previous day, authorities said.
Zachary Vozzella, 26, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in the death of Brianna Welsh, 25, prosecutors said in a news release.
The series of events leading to Welsh’s killing started on Tuesday, when the suspect’s brother Brendon Vozzella, 24, was arrested after a report of domestic violence, prosecutors said in the news release.
Welsh and Brendon Vozzella had gotten into a “domestic altercation,” in which Welsh was hospitalized, and she reported Brendon Vozzella to police, MassLive reported, citing court documents. Authorities allege Zachary Vozzella killed Welsh while Brendon Vozzella was being held in custody in that case, prosecutors said in the news release.
Welsh was killed on Wednesday between 6:15 p.m. when she returned to the apartment from the hospital and 8:06 p.m. and 8:16 p.m., when police allege Zachary Vozzella left the apartment after stabbing her, court documents said.
Welsh’s body was discovered just before 9 a.m. the following morning after Welsh’s mother called management to do a welfare check in unit 329, the statement of facts reportedly said.
She had a cut to her neck, legs, and abdominal area, MassLive reported.
Zachary Vozzella was quickly arrested. Officials had surveillance video of him leaving the crime scene with several bags, among them a trash bag allegedly containing clothing with red-brown stains and a kitchen knife that tested positive for the presence of blood, boston.com reported, citing the statement of facts.
Authorities said the suspect initially gave police an alibi about being at a nearby Dunkin’, but when surveillance video disproved that, he allegedly told cops he had been at the apartment between 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and said he didn’t see Welsh, MassLive reported.
Zachary Vozzella’s attorney Francisco Napolitano said his client denies he is responsible for Welsh’s death.
“He’s very, very sad about the whole, not only his own circumstances, but that someone died and that his brother’s in trouble. So everywhere he looks at is just sadness,” Napolitano told Boston CBS affiliate WBZ.
Welsh, meanwhile, was remembered fondly. A GoFundMe page set up by her family said she was looking forward to finding out this week whether her baby would be a boy or a girl.
“Tragically, she has been taken from us, murdered in her own home,” the page said. “We are all lost without her. She was a bright shining star, that went out before her time.”
Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said in the news release, “the tragic violence that has taken the life of Brianna Welsh and her unborn child has created an unbearable loss for her family.”
“While their loss cannot be repaired or remedied, I hope that our efforts to seek justice on her behalf assures them that we and the community support them,” he said.
Zachary Vozzella was being held without bail. He is set to appear in court on Sept. 10 for a probable cause hearing. Brandon Vozzella faces charges of assault and battery on a household member and assault and battery upon a pregnant person, prosecutors said. He’s set to appear in court on Aug. 6.
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