For Immediate Release
Contact: Scott J. Croteau 508-368-7228 or 774-418-5706
WORCESTER – A Worcester man was sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty to killing Worcester Public Schools employee Sandra Hehir in 2017, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early, Jr.
Jose Melendez, 60, was sentenced to serve 17 to 19 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Worcester Superior Court on Wednesday.
Ms. Hehir, 49, was found dead in her 8 Congress St. apartment in Worcester on Feb. 5, 2017. An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined her death was a homicide.
Worcester Police Detectives collected evidence from the scene. DNA profiles from that evidence were consistent with the DNA of Melendez and linked him to Ms. Hehir and her apartment.
Ms. Hehir worked for more than a decade in the Worcester Public Schools.
“It was the hard work by the Worcester Police Detectives together with our prosecutors and the State Police Crime Lab that brought this suspect to justice,” Mr. Early said. “This plea will hopefully bring some measure of closure to Ms. Hehir’s family.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Lina Pashou and Terry McLaughlin. The Victim Witness Advocate was Margaret Rwaramba.