Connecticut police announced Friday they have arrested Christopher Francisquini, a parolee suspected of murdering and dismembering his 11-month-old daughter.
Francisquini, 31, was taken into custody in Waterbury around 3 p.m. after two weeks on the run, police said. The felon with a lengthy rap sheet is accused of killing his 11-month-old daughter, Camilla Francisquini, on Nov. 18 at their Millville Avenue home in Naugatuck.
He is charged with murder with special circumstances and risk of injury to a minor, The Hartford Courant reported. His bond has been set at $5 million.
“Francisquini’s capture is a clear example of what can be accomplished when community members work with law enforcement to take dangerous individuals off the street,” the Naugatuck Police Department said in a statement. “Within 28 hours of asking the public’s help, he was taken into custody without incident and will now face justice.”
Video released by police shows the moment he is surrounded by about a dozen law enforcement officers with their guns drawn while sitting at a bus stop. They yell at him to get on the ground, which he does, before he’s swarmed and cuffed.
According to police, Francisquini choked, stabbed and dismembered Camilla and then got into an argument with her mother — who did not yet know that her daughter was dead. Francisquini allegedly destroyed the mother’s cellphone, removed a GPS tracking device from his ankle and fled in a 2006 gray Chevy Impala.
The car was later found abandoned on Interstate 91, cops said.
Camilla’s dismembered body was eventually found by a family member, police said. Her cause of death was ruled as neck compressions and stab wounds.
The FBI had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Two police sources told NBC Connecticut that law enforcement received information through their anonymous tip hotline that led to Francisquini’s arrest. Police have requested
Naugatuck police have asked residents to wear pink during the town’s tree-lighting ceremony on Saturday night in Camilla’s memory, the Courant reported. Saturday would have been her 1st birthday.
