New London man faces upgraded charge in Thanksgiving beating death
The New London man accused of assaulting 38-year-old Marlon Beasley on Thanksgiving morning has been charged with first-degree manslaughter as a result of Beasley's death.
State's Attorney Lawrence J. Tytla said Tuesday during Edgar Sanchez-Valencia's appearance in New London Superior Court that he filed the new charge because Beasley died after city police initially charged Sanchez-Valencia, 44, with second-degree assault. The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the cause of death was complications from blunt force head trauma and facial fractures.
Sanchez-Valencia's attorney, Bryan P. Fiengo, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf, and Judge Hillary B. Strackbein continued the case to Jan. 24.
Beasley, who was legally blind, and Sanchez-Valencia, who suffers from epilepsy, both lived in the Williams Park Apartments for seniors and disabled people at 127 Hempstead St., according to an arrest report.
Both men had attended a party at the complex early Thanksgiving morning and were drinking, according to police. Beasley was with a woman. The party host told police he asked Beasley to leave because Beasley was being disrespectful to an unidentified woman he was with.
Sanchez-Valencia left the apartment and returned some time later and told the host he had punched and kicked Beasley because Beasley was being disrespectful to the woman.
Beasley, who lived on the third floor, was lying on the floor in front of a fourth-floor apartment, unconscious, not breathing and bleeding from the mouth and nose, when police and firefighters were called to the apartment complex at 3:43 a.m. for a report of a fight. He was resuscitated and taken to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, then transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
Beasley never regained consciousness, and the following Monday his family decided to remove him from life support after a neurologist told them he had no brain activity.
Sanchez-Valencia is being held in lieu of $200,000 cash bond at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville. A few of his family members attended Tuesday's court hearing and told him they love him as he was being led back to the lockup facility. Several of the victim's family members also were in court.
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