Crime & Safety
Melendez Sentenced In Worcester Teacher Aide's Killing: DA
Jose Melendez, 60, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges connected to Sandra Hehir's killing.
WORCESTER, MA — A Worcester man may spend nearly two decades in prison for his role in the 2017 killing of a 49-year-old local woman.
Jose Melendez, 60, was sentenced Wednesday to 17 to 19 years in state prison after pleading guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection to Sandra "Buffy" Hehir's killing.
Hehir, 49, a former Worcester Public Schools teacher's aide, was found strangled to death in her Congress Street apartment in February 2017. Investigators used DNA evidence found at the scene of the killing to charge Melendez, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said.
“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,” Early said in a news release. “This plea will hopefully bring some measure of closure to Hehir’s family.”