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Louis Coleman Facing Charges In R.I. In Connection To Jassy Correia Death

BOSTON (CBS) – Louis Coleman, the man accused of kidnapping young mother Jassy Correia in Boston, is expected to be brought back to Rhode Island Friday, to face charges of concealing a crime and mutilating a dead body.

Louis Coleman
Louis Coleman. (Photo credit: Delaware Attorney General)

Coleman was arrested Thursday afternoon in Delaware on a fugitive charge after state police there pulled his car over on a highway. He was arraigned at midnight, according to a Delaware court system spokesperson, and charged as a "fugitive from another state." Coleman waived his right to an extradition hearing.

"The investigation began in Boston, the evidence led us to Rhode Island and an arrest was effective in Delaware. We just want the family to know, the city to know that we are working together seamlessly," said Boston Police Commissioner William Gross at a press conference Friday afternoon.

"Boston is better than this," he said.

Gross added he did not want to blame family or friends, rather "be aware of your surroundings." As a response, Boston Police has extra patrols.

Coleman is currently being held at the Howard Young Correctional Center in Wilmington, Delaware where police from Rhode Island are expected to pick him up and bring him back to Providence Friday. According to court documents, he faces three charges in Rhode Island – kidnapping, refusal to report a death with intent to conceal a crime and mutilation of a dead body.

Coleman, 32, has a condominium in Providence. Detectives searched that complex on Chestnut Street for hours Thursday, in connection with Correia's disappearance.

She was last seen alive early Sunday morning leaving the Venu nightclub in Boston's Theater District, where she had been celebrating her 23rd birthday with friends.

Boston Police say Coleman kidnapped her. After he was arrested Thursday, Correia's family said her body was found in the trunk of Coleman's car. Boston Police confirmed a body was discovered, but said they are waiting for a positive identification in Delaware.

Louis Coleman
Police arrest kidnapping suspect Louis Coleman in Delaware, Feb. 28, 2019 (WBZ-TV)

According to WPRI-TV, Providence police have obtained surveillance video showing a person believed to be Coleman carrying Correia into the Chestnut Street building. The video then shows the man leaving the apartment with two suitcases. Correia was not seen leaving the building and sources told WPRI she was not found inside Coleman's apartment.

"We conducted a search warrant of the apartment here, inside 95 Chestnut, but I cannot talk about the details about what was uncovered," Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements Jr. told reporters Thursday. "We are treating it as a homicide investigation."

A neighbor of the suspect, identified only as Joey, says Coleman often came home late and loud. He says early Thursday morning, Coleman woke him up again. "I heard someone like hurrying up," said Joey, who lives below Coleman's apartment. "He was like opening drawers, shutting drawers. We heard rustles, like he was coming in from the club."

Police said Coleman was not previously known to them. Correia's family said they did not know him either.

Jassy Correia
Jassy Correia and her daughter (Family photo)

The Correia family has set up a GoFundMe page to help Jassy's two-year-old daughter.

"The pain that we feel as a city right now is real as we mourn the loss of a young life that was taken too soon. My heart breaks for Jassy's family and friends, and her young daughter," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in a tweet.

"This guy is an animal," Walsh later said of Coleman while speaking to reporters in Dorchester Friday.

Gross said, "Mayor Walsh and the District Attorney and myself went to visit the family today and I'm telling you right now, it's just such a beautiful family and they don't deserve this. Mayor Walsh is highly upset, we are all highly upset that this could have even have happened."

Coleman worked at Raytheon in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and has a master's degree from California State University in Long Beach.  There has been no comment from the company or the university.

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