MILFORD, Conn. — For the second time in 9 months, the Ansonia police are knee-deep in a domestic violence-related murder investigation and Thursday the man police say was responsible for the town's latest homicide was arraigned.
Thursday morning, Andre LeFrancois, 22, and Rosali Violet Acquefreda, 20, were due to be in Milford Superior Court for a custody hearing, concerning their three-year-old son. Instead, the Ansonia man was arraigned on murder charges in the same courthouse.
"He’s an evil person," said Christian Federici, Rosali's boyfriend of five months.
Late Sunday afternoon, sources say the 20-year-old Derby woman was driving a car, with her alleged controlling 22-year-old ex-boyfriend and their three-year-old son, when he viciously stabbed her. She escaped but collapsed in an Ansonia yard.
"I’m still in denial," said Melissa Acqueveda, the victim's mother. "She was my baby girl."
She alleges her daughter was abused for five years by LeFrancois. Of course, part of the power of domestic violence is secrecy.
"The abusive partner is usually saying you can’t tell anybody," said Cindy Carlson of Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence Services, which serves 19 communities. "You can’t share this with anybody. If you do, something bad will happen to you."
"When I got that phone call yesterday that he was arrested, I felt a weight lifted and it was my son’s birthday," said Melissa Aquefreda the Victim’s mother. "That was my daughter's gift to my son."
She says LeFrancois, who, according to the court, had a history of mental illness, was jealous of her current boyfriend.
"However long this takes, I will be here and I will support your son and I will support your family," said Federici.
Agencies that are part of the CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence offer specialized services to those in crisis, temporary restraining orders or protective orders, or a safety plan on how to relocate or how to use things like address confidentiality.
A GoFundMe page created to defray funeral costs had raised nearly $11,000 as of mid-afternoon.
Melissa Acquefreda says she nearly lost her daughter two years ago in a car crash and will now honor her daughter by taking care of her son, Eli.