Cemetery Murder Arrest Marked, In Family’s Absence

Naysha Mendez’s family wasn’t present at police headquarters Wednesday afternoon — but the fullness of their loss loomed large at a press conference about the arrest of the man who allegedly stabbed to death the 35-year-old New Haven mother of three.

Asst. Police Chiefs Manmeet Bhagtana and David Zannelli joined Mayor Justin Elicker, Chief Administrative Officer Justin McCarthy, Det. Thomas Blaisdell, and a host of fellow police officers, investigators, and New Haven State’s Attorney John Doyle for that presser on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

The reason for the gathering was for police brass to discuss the May 6 arrest of Edwin Arroyo-Roman, 55, on charges of murder and tampering with evidence for allegedly stabbing to death Mendez in Evergreen Cemetery on May 2. Interviews and video surveillance footage played key roles in helping Blaisdell and his colleagues make the speedy arrest, which took place after Arroyo-Roman confessed to officers of having committed the crime over an unpaid debt of $700. Click here to read a detailed account of what police believe happened.

Arroyo-Roman has not yet entered a plea to either of those charges. He is currently being held on a $3 million bond. His next court date is scheduled for May 21.

Family members and friends of homicide victims often stand alongside police and the mayor at press conferences like these, taking the opportunity to address reporters about the magnitude of their loss, memories of their loved one, and gratitude to the city for making an arrest.

Unlike at other such press conferences, however, no one from Mendez’s family was present at Wednesday’s press conference. Zannelli, Bhagtana, and Elicker said they understand why the family decided not to come, and expressed their ​“deepest condolences,” as Zannelli put it, for Mendez’s sudden and tragic death.

Elicker said that he attended Mendez’s funeral, at Washington Memorial Funeral Home in North Haven on May 8.

The room was full of family, he said; roughly 70 people showed up, including Mendez’s three sons. ​“So many loved ones” spoke at the Spanish-language ceremony, Elicker said.

Mendez’s obituary on the Washington Memorial Funeral Home’s website identifies her name as Naysha Méndez Maysonet. It states that she was born in Puerto Rico, and had lived in New York City for ten years before moving to New Haven two years ago. She is survived by three sons, her sister, four brothers, her husband, and a host of other family members. Mendez’s obituary states that she was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.