Warrant details woman’s concerns

Murder victim’s throat cut; suspect found at scene

MIDDLETOWN — The woman killed early last month at her apartment in the Westfield portion of the city told friends she was considering filing a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend — the same man who called 911 the night of her death, according to court documents.

Authorities were called to the Hunters Crossing apartment complex on Russett Lane just after 3:30 p.m. Sept. 8 on a report of a female in cardiac arrest, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. The suspect, Cornel L. Myers, 35, allegedly told dispatchers that the victim, whose throat was cut, was not breathing or moving, and “it looked like there was blood on the bed” near her in a bedroom, the report indicates. The victim was pronounced dead at 3:51 p.m., the warrant affidavit says.

The Hartford Courant is reporting the victim is Hartford teacher Danielle Fasciocco. Myers is charged with murder and firstdegree burglary and criminal trespass.

Myers, who was talking on a cellphone when officers arrived, appeared to have a dried “blood-like substance” on the front of both his pant legs, shirt sleeves and both hands, according to the arrest warrant. They observed the victim’s door was ajar and the deadbolt “extended” so it couldn’t be closed, an indication that no one had forced his/her way into the residence, police said.

The victim, whose neck was “severely cut,” was found in a “kneeling position” on the floor, with her upper body leaning against the bed and her back toward the door, according to authorities.

A canvass of the apartment turned up another cellphone with what looked like traces of blood on it, a small serrated knife on the bed next to the victim, and

another knife with the tip broken off with what appeared to be blood on it inside a trash can, the arrest warrant affidavit says. There was more suspected blood on the kitchen cabinets, according to court documents.

Detectives allegedly found a handwritten note on a living room coffee table, which said: “I did not do it again I did not do it (two people’s names) you guys are the reason for this,” according to documents presented in court. “You guys are the cause of this … I hope you Lady are happy now that the reason why I do it I write this so yoo know everyone is gonna really think I kill her This is what yoo want for me to get in trouble she would’n be by ‘her self.’”

When Myers was interviewed by police the next morning, he said he wanted to visit the victim at 3 a.m. so he set his alarm, and when he awoke, walked to the victim’s home and unlocked the door with a key he had, the arrest warrant affidavit says. When he saw the woman in the position described by officers, Myers said he thought she was drunk, so he tried to pull her up, and she felt “stiff and heavy,” the warrant says.

Myers later told officers he had found the victim “in apparent distress and bleeding,” and he had touched her, getting her blood on him.

The medical examiner determined during the autopsy Sept. 8 the victim had died of “sharp force injury to the neck and torso,” and her death was ruled a homicide, the arrest warrant affidavit says.

Myers denied any involvement in her death, but said he had called and texted her in the days and hours leading to her death, according to court documents. Myers said he used her cellphone to call 911, and while on the call with the dispatcher, wrote the note “because he didn’t think he would be able to explain himself” and thought he’d “get in trouble for what happened to the victim because of the circumstances,” the warrant affidavit says.

On the Friday before the incident, police were called to the same complex about an argument between a male and female, the warrant says. The officers searched the apartments and knocked on various doors but no one answered, the warrant says. In midAugust, the affidavit says, the victim called police about Myers sending her “thousands” of text messages, adding he had shown up at her door on more than 10 occasions.

Police determined Myers

had bought a bouquet of flowers Sept. 7 at the Cromwell Stop & Shop, and video surveillance confirmed the purchase, according to the warrant.

Police interviewed the victim’s downstairs neighbor, who reportedly said he heard two loud bangs at 4:27 p.m. followed by a woman screaming loudly. The neighbor said he also saw the flowers “destroyed” in the hallway, according to officers.

Authorities contacted the victim’s ex-boyfriend, who, at one point, the victim had requested a restraining order for, the warrant says. He told police he hadn’t talked to the victim in a while, the warrant says. When officers told him the victim was dead, “he became emotional with tears running down his face,” police said.

When detectives spoke with the victim’s friend Sept. 8, she said she’d worked with her for five years, and they went to The Flying Monkey Bar & Grill in Hartford after work Sept. 7, the warrant says. The two later went to 451 Restaurant in Hartford with others, where the victim showed her text messages between herself and Myers, the warrant says. He sent multiple messages asking to meet her that night, but she replied “no thanks” to him several times, according to the warrant.

The texts were followed by multiple phone calls, which she declined. The friend told police the victim told her “I don’t know why he keeps calling me when he has all these other women.”

The victim then allegedly told her friend she was thinking about getting a restraining order against Myers, adding, “I don’t know how I keep finding these types of men,” the warrant says.

On Sept. 8, another co-worker confirmed the friend’s account, adding the victim had told him “My life is crazy; my ex is crazy; like legit crazy!” then saying he lived across the street from her. He told officers the victim had gotten a number of calls that evening, including one at 8 p.m. during which she showed him her phone screen and said, “Look, guys, it’s probably him” and at 9:30, she said, “Time for me to go guys” and left.

Myers was convicted of third-degree strangulation Nov. 9, 2015, a charge stemming from a May 30, 2015, incident in Hamden, online Judicial Branch records show. He was sentenced to nine months in jail, execution suspended, and 18 months of probation, according to judicial records.

Myers, who is being held in lieu of $2 million bond, is due back in Superior Court at Middletown Dec. 4. He is being represented by a public defender.

Myers