Jassy Correia wanted to celebrate her 23rd birthday at a Boston, Massachusetts nightclub. Four days later, she was found dead in the trunk of a man’s car in Delaware.
More than three years later, the man accused of kidnapping and killing Correia will go on trial Monday in US District Court in Boston.
36-year-old Louis D. Coleman III faces a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death in connection with the February 2019 incident. Prosecutors have declined to seek the death penalty against Coleman, who will instead face life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
It was after 2 a.m. on February 24, 2019, that Correia left Venu, a Boston club, with her friends. Coleman was also at the club and approached Correia after she had gotten into an argument with friends outside.
Surveillance footage showed Coleman and Correia leaving together in a red sedan, police said. Two hours later, more footage showed Coleman parking outside his Providence apartment. He got out of his car, returned with a blanket, and carried and dragged a woman inside, whom investigators believe was Correia.
Two days later, Correia’s father and a friend report the Dorchester mother of a young girl missing. That same day, police said Coleman traveled to a Providence Walmart for duct tape, surgical gloves, bleach, and other items.
A vigil was held for Jassy Correia on Thursday, March 7, 2019. Authorities believe Correia was kidnapped and killed after a night out at Venu nightclub in Boston in late February, when she was out celebrating her upcoming 23rd birthday. Correia leaves behind relatives in Dorchester and a 2-year-old daughter.
Coleman was identified as a suspect within days of Correia’s disappearance but was gone from his apartment by the time police searched the residence on Feb. 28.
That afternoon, Delaware State Police stopped him on Interstate 95 near Wilmington. When a trooper asked if anyone else was in the car, Coleman responded, “She’s in the trunk,” investigators said.
There, police said they found Correia’s lifeless body inside a sofa cushion, inside a plastic bag, inside a suitcase, in the trunk. She was covered in what appeared to be baking soda. Other items, including pruning shears, a plastic gas container, a lighter and gloves were also located inside the vehicle.
Correia died by strangulation, prosecutors have said, and suffered blunt force injury to the head, torso, upper body and neck.
While in a Delaware State Police holding cell and under arrest, Coleman was asked about an injury on his cheekbone covered by a bandage.
He told troopers it was “from the girl.” Later, Coleman changed his mind and said the wound happened after he cut himself shaving, court filings said.
Prosecutors do not need to prove that Coleman killed Correia — only that he kidnapped her, resulting in her death, the Boston Globe reported.
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