A Massachusetts mom-to-be was stabbed to death hours after accusing her boyfriend of punching her in her pregnant belly — allegedly by the boyfriend’s homeless brother who they’d taken in, according to authorities.
Brianna Welsh, 25, was found dead with “multiple sharp force” injuries at her home in Lynn on July 31, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. She was around three months pregnant at the time.
Just a day earlier, the mom-to-be called 911 accusing her boyfriend, Brendan Vozzella, of punching her in the stomach, NBC10 reported.
Vozzella, 24, was arrested around 2 p.m. — and held overnight — while Welsh was treated at a nearby hospital.
She returned around 6:15 p.m. to their apartment — when officials believe Brendan’s 26-year-old brother, Zachary Vozzella, stabbed her to death before fleeing, prosecutors said.
Zachary Vozzella was homeless and staying with the couple at the time, Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said in court last week.
Welsh’s body was discovered on the floor of her bedroom the next day when her mother asked the building maintenance to check on her, NBC10 explained.
She had cuts to her neck, legs and abdominal area, prosecutors said, according to MassLive. Her boyfriend was in custody at the time.
The brother, Zachary, initially claimed that he’d been at a Dunkin’ Donuts all day. But when investigators proved that wasn’t true, he admitted that he went to his brother’s apartment between 2 and 8:30 p.m. — but claimed he did’t see Welsh, NBC10 said.
Investigators later found Welsh’s key fob in a backpack at a relative’s home where Zachary was also staying, along with clothes and a knife that tested positive for blood.
Key-fob data proved that Welsh used her key around 6:15 p.m. on the evening she was last seen, and that whoever last left the apartment was gone by about 8:30 p.m., investigators said.
Video footage also showed Zachary going to his other relative’s home with a backpack and a trash bag in tow.
Zachary Vozzella pleaded not guilty on Aug. 1 to one count of murder and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, the DA’s office said.
He is currently being held without bail pending a probable cause hearing on Sept. 10.
During the court proceedings last week, MacDougal said that there was “some indication” that Welsh had wanted Zachary to move out of the apartment before she died.
Zachary’s lawyer, Francisco Napolitano, told WHDH that his client insisted he did not kill Welsh.
Brendon Vozzella was arraigned on charges of assault and battery on a pregnant victim and assault and battery on a family member on Wednesday.
Judge Ina Howard-Hogan deemed him a danger to the community, and ordered for him to be held for the next 120 days, MassLive reported.
“The tragic violence that has taken the life of Brianna Welsh and her unborn child has created an unbearable loss for her family,” Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker said in a statement.
“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.”
Welsh’s family set up a GoFundMe for her funeral expenses, which noted that the mom-to-be was set to find out the sex of her baby shortly after she was killed.
“Tragically, she has been taken from us, murdered in her own home. We are all lost without her,” the page read. “She was a bright shining star that went out before her time.”
As of Thursday, the fundraiser had raked in over $16,600 of its $18,000 goal.
