BRIDGEPORT -- A city man accused of fatally stabbing his pregnant girlfriend and her 80-year-old grandmother waived a hearing on probable cause Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Although warned by Superior Court Judge George Thim that his actions could bring him closer to facing a possible death sentence, Rey Damien Garcia calmly told the judge he understood his rights.
In a probable cause hearing prosecutors would have to present its case against the defendant to convince a judge they have sufficint evidence to try him for the crime.
The 25-year-old Garcia then pleaded not guilty to capital felony and elected a trial by jury. The judge continued the case to Sept. 9.
State's Attorney John Smriga declined comment on the case. He has not officially stated whether he intends to seek the death penalty for Garcia.
Garcia, a butcher at a local supermarket, is accused of killing 22-year-old Yeliza Vasquez and her grandmother, Ignancia Delvalle, May 30 in their Marina Village apartment.
According to police, the night before the murders, Garcia's girlfriend, told Garcia she had enough of his drug use. In a rage the pregnant Vasquez smashed Garcia's crack pipes, telling him that was the last night they would spend together.
Distraught by his girlfriend's words, police said Garcia went out and smoked more crack. He also took two Percocets, they said.
When Garcia returned to his girlfriend's Marina Village home, his demeanor was calm but behind his back he held two long knives.
Police said he began choking Vasquez, then stabbed her repeatedly with the knives.
When Vasquez's grandmother, came into the room in answer to her granddaughter's screams, police said Garcia forced the woman back into her bedroom, where he began repeatedly stabbing her.
Police said Garcia left one of the bloody knives at the scene. The second knife he took with him, eventually leaving it on the ground outside the cafeteria at the University of Bridgeport.
Police later arrested Garcia as he was walking on Helen Street toward Boston Avenue. They said he confessed to the murders, at one point telling detectives, "I guess I lost it."
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