In The News

Man held in slaying of woman in Peabody
By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff | April 8, 2008

It was during a dinner Saturday at an Indian restaurant in Beverly, authorities said, that Ashley Fernandes confided to a stranger in the next seat over: Fernandes's girlfriend lay dead in a Peabody apartment.

"Just kidding," Fernandes then reportedly told the stranger, Kenneth Morse. But Fernandes later repeated the claim and said he "had too much freedom in this country" and was "ready to die," Morse told police.

While the two chatted, Fernandes, 28, doodled on a piece of paper, cursing the world and jotting down his parents' contact information in India. Morse took the information to police the next day. (He declined to comment yesterday when reached by phone.)

Shortly after hearing from Morse, Peabody police picked up Fernandes during a traffic stop and searched his apartment on Oak Street. There they found the body of his estranged girlfriend, Jessica Herrera, 25, who had apparently been strangled and rolled in a comforter, which was then wrapped with rope.

Fernandes was charged with murder, and yesterday Judge James O'Leary ordered him held without bail until a May 9 hearing.

If the suspected motive proves true, Herrera's slaying would be the 10th domestic violence murder in Massachusetts this year, according to Jane Doe Inc., a statewide advocacy organization for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

"We're alarmed," said Jane Doe spokeswoman Toni Troop. She said the number of such killings this year is on par with last year, which had the highest rate of domestic violence homicides in the state since 1992. "All day long, I've been going back and forth between being sad and being mad," Troop said, blaming the slayings in part on a breakdown in resources to fund domestic violence outreach and prevention efforts. "Sad because it's heartbreaking that individuals' lives have been lost. Many have left children behind. . . . And mad because we know we can do better. These individuals deserve better."

It looked as though Herrera had been searching for something better.

The mother of two had recently left her job as a dental assistant at Middleton Dental Care to move near her parents on Cape Cod - and away from Fernandes, according to her former boss Dr. Nicholas DiMauro. In January, Herrera had filed a restraining order against Fernandes, in which she told the court that on Dec. 25 her boyfriend held her on her bedroom floor for two hours while punching her so hard that she blacked out twice. Police evidence photos taken less than two weeks later show Herrera - a slightly-built woman with her brown hair in a braid - with a bloodied left eye and bruises on her hips, legs, chest, and back.

"I pleaded for my life in any way I could because he had told me I would die that night," she wrote of the beating, which occurred in the early hours of Christmas Day. The district attorney's office attempted to get Fernandes declared a dangerous person and kept in custody, but Judge Robert Brennan denied that motion on the condition that Fernandes have no contact with Herrera.

But a month later - on Valentine's Day - Herrera dropped her complaints against Fernandes, whom she had lived with for about six months, according to court records.

"I don't feel like I am in fear of him any longer, and we are going to get back together," she wrote in the paperwork to void her restraining order.

Still, as far as DiMauro knew, Herrera had moved to the Cape and ended her relationship with Fernandes. He said he was not sure why she was in town this weekend.

"Probably to see her kids," DiMauro said of Herrera's two toddler-age boys. It was not clear yesterday where the children were staying.

He described Herrera as a bubbly, happy person who had worked hard to earn a GED after dropping out of school in the eighth grade.

"When she came to work for me, she was a natural from the very first day," DiMauro said. "Within a few hours, she made it a point to find out where everything was, what kind of materials I was using, and what procedures I was performing."

She had a knack for comforting patients, he added.

"I'm devastated," DiMauro said. "She was a very good person. Everyone here is upset."

© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company