Appeals court tosses prior conviction of Dejan Belnavis, man accused in double murder

The state appeals court on Thursday threw out two assault and battery convictions of Dejan Belnavis – one of two men accused of fatally shooting Chasity Nuñez and her young daughter Zella in March – stemming from a 2021 gun-involved altercation at the Walmart store in Worcester.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court found that the officers who had identified Belnavis using surveillance cameras did not have "sufficient relevant familiarity" with him to make a convincing identification.

"We conclude that two nonpercipient police officers should not have been allowed to identify the defendant in court from Walmart surveillance video recordings, where one officer had encountered (Belnavis) twice and the other four times, over a four or five-year period, and where there was no evidence that the encounters were prolonged or memorable,” wrote Associate Justice Joseph Ditkoff.

Belnavis faced two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon in connection with the June 21, 2021, altercation at the Walmart ithat involved five men fighting two against three in one of the aisles.

He was convicted on both counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, but the defense argued that he had been misidentified, court documents say.

A man wearing a white T-shirt, black pants, white sneakers and sunglasses, and carrying a black bag, who was seen in the video pointing a weapon at another man was identified by officers as being Belnavis.

Court documents show that two officers from the Worcester police gang unit testified at trial.

During trial, the first officer testified to have encountered Belnavis four times over a five-year period and viewed his identification at least once.

The second officer testified to have encountered Belnavis twice over a four-year period and had been present when someone else asked for his identification.

“In the circumstances of this case, the officers' testimony created a substantial risk of a miscarriage of justice,” Ditkoff wrote.

Belnavis has 20 prior criminal cases in the city, mostly for drugs and domestic violence.

He has been held without bail since March, facing two murder charges since being captured in California following a days-long manhunt following the fatal shooting of Chasity Nuñez, 27, and her daughter Zella, 11, who were inside a parked car on Englewood Avenue.

Karel Mangual, 28, is also charged and is being held without bail in connection with the killings.

Prosecutors have connected the men to the crime in prior court proceedings and documents using cellphone, witness and video evidence.

Among other evidence, police have used surveillance footage to allege that the men are the shooters based on the shoes they were wearing.

In September, Belnavis pleaded not guilty to counts of murder at his arraignment at the Worcester Superior Court.

He is due to appear in court Nov. 21 for a pretrial conference.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Appeals court tosses prior conviction of Dejan Belnavis, man accused in double murder