Middletown man headed to maximum security hospital over 2021 murder

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) — Middlesex Judicial District State’s Attorney Michael A. Gailor announced Tuesday that a panel committed 21-year-old Eugenio Vela III, of Middletown, to the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board for up to 30 years.

According to evidence presented at trial, on May 20, 2021, Vela stabbed a woman more than 20 times in Middletown.

In a release, a panel found that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Vela intentionally committed the crime of murder. He was 18 at the time.

He was found not guilty because they concluded that, at the time he committed the offense, he lacked substantial capacity, as a result of a mental disease or defect, either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or control his behavior.

According to a release, Vela will be confined in the maximum security section of the Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown.

At the time of the murder, police said Vela stabbed the victim in a vehicle in the area of Ridgewood Road. He left the area on foot and the woman was able to drive the vehicle to the Fire Department, where she succumbed to the injuries.

Investigators were able to locate the weapon Vela used for the attack and learned there were two active protective orders between him and the victim.

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