By Don Stacom, Hartford Courant
NEW BRITAIN — A 31-year-old man was arrested on a murder charge Saturday afternoon, less than 12 hours after police found a woman strangled to death in his Newfield Avenue apartment.
Luis Velez is being held in lieu of $750,000 bond until his arraignment Monday in Superior Court, police said.
Investigators described the 33-year-old victim as having a “domestic relationship” with Velez, but on Saturday evening provided no other details and did not name her because relatives still hadn’t been notified.
Patrol officers were sent to the second-floor at 38-40 Newfield Ave. a little before 2:20 a.m. Saturday when police got a call that a man living there was despondent and potentially dangerous.
In the apartment, police found the victim unconscious and unresponsive, and paramedics with New Britain Emergency Medical Services could not revive her, according to police.
“Initial indications were that the female had been strangled,” Capt. Thomas Steck, commander of the detective division, wrote in a report. “Investigators identified Luis Velez as a possible suspect.”
Detectives obtained a warrant for Velez later in the day and arrested him without incident around 1 p.m., Steck reported. He was charged with a single count of murder.