Murder Charge Filed Against Woman In West Hartford Killing
By David Owens, The Hartford Courant | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"Her explanation rings very hollow," prosecutor
Alexander also increased Grasso's bail to
Grasso had been free on bail when she walked into the courthouse, but was taken into custody after her bail was increased.
In upping the charge against Grasso to murder from manslaughter, Garcia said evidence that investigators have reviewed indicates Grasso had opportunities to get away from
Grasso claimed that Mendez threatened to kill her and her children and said the shooting was in self-defense.
Investigators reviewed video of Mendez and Grasso at
"Being armed, in the presence of others in broad daylight, her best chance to get away was earlier," Garcia said.
Grasso's lawyer,
The situation escalated dramatically after the visit to
"There was an explicit threat -- 'I'm going to kill your children,' " Hussey said. "That's what changed."
Grasso waived a preliminary hearing and entered a not guilty plea to the murder charge.
Grasso, 27, told police she'd been dating Mendez for several weeks when the shooting occurred.
She told police that he accused her of cheating and repeatedly threatened her life and that of her family as they rode in his car, according to a
Mendez' older brother,
"She executed an unarmed man," he said, adding that Grasso's description of what happened does not ring true. If she was truly afraid of his brother,
There was a large contingent of
During a lengthy interview with
They had been to his sister's house in
Grasso said Mendez called her
She said she called Mendez and told him the bank had closed. She told police that Mendez told her to stay there and that he arrived about 30 minutes later. She said she dropped her car off at Lena's pizza on
As he drove, he accused her of cheating, of giving him a sexually transmitted disease and of wanting to be intimate with his sister, according to the police report. He grabbed the back of her head several times and pushed her face into the center console and into his lap.
Grasso told police that Mendez drove to a clinic so they could be tested for STDs. He said that if she ran, he would get to her house before her and kill her children. The clinic Grasso referred to was
The drove back to
"Angela believed at this point that Jose was going to kill her and her family," the report says.
The shooting occurred just after they turned from
Mendez had a variety of criminal convictions as well as several pending cases, according to judicial records.
Mendez, who was also known as "
In both of those cases, police said, Mendez threatened to kill the girlfriends and their children. In the
The woman in the
In both of those earlier cases -- and as is alleged in the
In the
Later, when police stopped her car, which had been reported stolen, another man was driving it. Mendez sent a text message to the woman who owned the car, telling her that she had better bail the man out of jail or Mendez "would find her and kill her," according to a report.
In
He served prison sentences for both offenses.
In the
He fled and the woman called police. Mendez sent the woman text messages threatening to kill her and her children, and she feared for her life, police reported.
One of the text messages, according to police, was: "U wrong for dat ma rns but i promise if I dont get my money ima kill ur mother and ur kids dats word to my mother."
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