CT man who fatally stabbed woman as teen committed to psychiatric facility for up to 30 years

A Middletown man who stabbed a woman more than 20 times in 2021 when he was a teen in high school has been committed to a psychiatric facility after a panel found that he was not guilty of murder as a result of mental disease or defect.A three-judge panel on Tuesday committed Eugenio Vela III, 21, to the Psychiatric Security Review Board for up to 30 years after finding that he “lacked substantial capacity” to “appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or control his behavior” in connection with the fatal stabbing of woman in Middletown on May 20, 2021, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.Vela was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect after prosecutors proved “beyond a reasonable” doubt that he committed murder, criminal justice officials said. He will be housed in the maximum security section of the Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown.According to court records, Vela had been issued multiple protective orders on behalf of the victim at the time of the killing, which police said was considered domestic violence. The day of the stabbing, the woman picked up Vela — who was 18 at the time and attending Middletown High School — from the Wesley Inn where he had been staying after being kicked out of his home, archives said.Middletown teen who fatally stabbed woman repeatedly violated court orders designed to protect her, records showVela got into the woman’s vehicle around 2 p.m. before a physical altercation took place on East Road, where a witness reported seeing Vela “wailing” on the woman through the driver’s side window, according to court records. Authorities said Vela stabbed the woman more than 20 times before she drove herself to the Westfield Fire District station a few blocks away, where firefighters and paramedics tended to her and requested LifeStar.The woman was taken to Middlesex Hospital where she was pronounced dead.According to authorities, Vela was found on Ridgewood Road. He told police the woman had “spazzed” and hit him, so he “did what he had to do” with a small knife that officers recovered near the scene on East Road, according to court records.Vela was also taken to an area hospital, where he told investigators he believed the victim would stab him with a kitchen knife. He could not describe the knife and admitted he had not seen her with it, court records said.Vela further told investigators that he intended to kill the woman and that he tried to pull her out of the vehicle after it stopped to “finish the job,” according to court records. He reportedly said he considered killing the woman and driving her body directly to the police station.Vela had twice been issued a protective order that prohibited him from contacting the victim, court records showed.Prosecutors believe he violated the orders at least two times prior to the killing, including during an incident about a month earlier when the woman awoke to find Vela standing over her and screaming, according to court records. He also reportedly threatened to kill her during that incident.Vela was arrested in connection with that violation and later released on a promise to appear. At the time of the killing, he had a warrant out for his arrest for another alleged protective order violation stemming from an incident in early May 2021.
Originally Published: July 17, 2024 at 10:35 a.m.

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