NEW LONDON, Conn. — Five months after a Groton teen was found unresponsive in a New London home and later pronounced dead at the hospital, two people have now been charged in connection to 17-year-old Dnazia “Nay” Uzzle’s death.
Thursday morning, a New London mother and her son were arrested in connection to her death.
Erica Cherry, 40, and her son, N’shon Cherry, 19, have been charged with first-degree accessory to commit manslaughter, first-degree accessory to commit strangulation, first-degree reckless endangerment, third-degree assault and cruelty to persons.
Both appeared separately before a judge in New London superior court late Thursday afternoon.
New London police said this all comes after they got a call on Saturday, April 15, just after 3 a.m., for an unresponsive woman at a home near Jefferson Avenue and Buchanan Road.
They found Uzzle in the living room without a pulse when they arrived. She was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
According to the arrest warrants, Uzzle’s fatal injuries could not have been self-inflicted. The cause was a collective result of blunt force trauma and compression of the neck. The medical examiner noted injuries to various parts of her body.
Erica and N'shon were found in the home with non-life-threatening stab wounds.
On Thursday, outside of the courthouse, dozens of Uzzle’s family and friends showed up in pink, her favorite color, to show support. Her grandmother, Linda Lorenzo, said they’ve been waiting for these charges for months.
“A relief. A big relief. I wanted This day to come. And I wanted them to do time, you know, you can’t do this to anyone’s child. You can’t. And I don’t want it to happen to anybody else’s child,” Lorenzo said.
Lorenzo said since her granddaughter's death, she’s been calling the state's attorney's office and police regularly. She said they’ve been good to her and told her they ensured they had an air-tight case before bringing charges.
“They wanted to make sure everything is airtight. The autopsy took a long time coming back, that’s for sure,” Lorenzo said. “You know, cross the T’s dot the I’s, make sure everything is correct.”
These arrests, Lorenzo said, are one step toward getting justice for her grandbaby.
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“Nay was funny, sassy, a handful. She always liked to tease me. But she always knew how to make me smile. At night she would call me just to check on me to say, 'Grandma, how are you doing?’ no matter what. And I miss it, I miss it a lot,” Lorenzo said.
N’shon entered a plea of not guilty in court. His bond was set at $250,000. Erica's bond was set at $250,000, but she did not enter a plea. Both will be back in court on Oct. 18.
Anyone with information on this manslaughter investigation is asked to call New London police at 860-447-1481 or send a tip to the New London Tips 411 system.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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