# Ciara McDermott, Newington CT Police



## Negaproach

(West Hartford-WTNH/AP, Nov. 22, 2005 Updated 5:00 PM ) _ A Newington police officer was shot to death inside her West Hartford home Monday night. Her killer, a state trooper, was also found dead.

Both suffered gunshot wounds, West Hartford police Capt. John Casey said at a morning news conference.

It's the second death of a Newington officer in less than a year.

Officer Ciara McDermott's body was solemnly carried from her home early today, as saluting law-enforcement officers stood at attention along her driveway.

Police were called to McDermott's home on Ridgewood Road around 6:15 p.m. Monday night. When police arrived, they found McDermott, a youth officer at Newington High School, dead on the first floor of the home.

Police backed out of the house and secured the scene. At that point they determined the suspect was an armed State Trooper. After searching the area, police reentered the home and found the male suspect dead inside a room on the second floor.

He is identified Trooper Victor Diaz. According to the Hartford Courant, McDermott was the ex-girlfriend of Diaz.

Trooper Diaz was assigned to Troop H in Hartford. He got into trouble earlier this year when he was arrested in Cromwell on drunken driving charges, and threatening and interfering with a police officer.

There was a warrant filed against Diaz for misuse of a National Crime Information Center, or NCIC, computer, Capt. Casey said. The NCIC computer system holds information such as motor vehicle data, wanted persons, warrant information, protective orders in domestic violence cases, etc.

According to the Courant, Diaz was scheduled to turn himself in to police, but he called his attorney and said there would be a "change of plans."

McDermott's body was reportedly found by a West Hartford officer who recently began dating her.

McDermott's family has a history of law enforcement. Her father was a West Hartford police officer and retired Windsor captain.

Students at Newington High School left flowers and put up a banner in her memory. "She was there for all of us," one girl told us. "She was like family."

This is the second death of a Newington police officer in less than a year. On New Year's Eve officer Peter Lavery was killed by a suspect. The Newington police headquarters is named in his honor.










http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=4151790


----------



## Negaproach

Ciara McDermott's father is a well liked full time instructor at the police academy in Meridan and a retired West Hartford Captain.


----------



## Southside

RIP Officer McDermott,

You will be missed by all of us!!!


----------



## kttref

Change Of Plans - Troubled Trooper Didn't Give Clues To Lethal Intent

November 23, 2005

By DAVE ALTIMARI And TOM PULEO, Courant Staff Writers

WEST HARTFORD -- The message that troubled state Trooper Victor Diaz left on his lawyer's cellphone had police cars rushing to the home of his ex-girlfriend in a frantic attempt to protect her.

They got there too late.

By the time the cruisers arrived Monday evening at the tan colonial house at 348 Ridgewood Road, their lights flashing in the rain and darkness, Newington police Officer Ciara McDermott lay slumped over her computer screen, shot three times in the head and chest.

The chief medical examiner's office said Tuesday that McDermott died of the gunshot wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide. Diaz died of a single gunshot to the head and his body was found on a floor in an upstairs room. His death was ruled a suicide.

The house remained cordoned off with police tape Tuesday as detectives tried to piece together the two officers' last moments.

"We've all been asking ourselves what could have been done," said West Hartford Police Chief James Strillacci. "But without some clues that something bad was going to happen..."

On Tuesday, Jeffery Ment, Diaz's attorney, said that until the cellphone call on Monday there were no indications that Diaz was headed for a violent ending that also would claim the life of McDermott.

"It was apparent to me that he had alcohol issues, but he also was trying to take care of that," said Ment. "I knew who [McDermott] was and that they had broken up, but he didn't talk about her all of the time like he was obsessed with her."

Less than three weeks ago, Diaz sat outside McDermott's house and copied down the license plate numbers of a car parked in her driveway. He asked a friend with the state police to run the plate through their databases to see whose car it was, he would later admit to West Hartford police.

He learned that the car belonged to West Hartford police Officer James DeLuca, McDermott's new boyfriend. Diaz began making harassing phone calls to McDermott until McDermott and DeLuca went to West Hartford police and filed a complaint.

But sources said McDermott decided not to follow through, withdrawing her harassment complaint because she said she could handle any problems with Diaz.

Police continued their probe into DeLuca's complaint and obtained an arrest warrant last Wednesday, charging Diaz with illegal use of the databases, sources said.

Diaz was informed Thursday that police had a warrant for his arrest. That same day, sources said, he got a letter from the state police internal affairs division indicating he was about to be the subject of an administrative investigation into the database misuse.

At that point Diaz must have known two things: that he was to turn himself in to West Hartford police on Monday; and that his once-promising career as a state trooper was probably over when that internal investigation - the second of his career - was completed.

In March, Diaz faced his first criminal charges. Cromwell police stopped him for drunken driving and other offenses. Police videotape shows Diaz fighting with arresting officers and threatening to hurt them. It was McDermott who bailed him out of jail.

The incident resulted in a 60-day suspension - the penalty one step below termination.

Diaz was scheduled to turn himself in to West Hartford police at 6 p.m. on Monday. At 4:20 he left a voice mail message with Ment, saying plans had changed. He thanked Ment for all of his help and for standing by him, sources said.

Ment, who spent the afternoon in court, retrieved the message at 5:40 p.m. and, sensing danger, immediately dialed West Hartford police and the Troop H state police barracks where Diaz worked and advised officers to go check on McDermott.

"My first thought was that he was going to go to the police station and try and take out a couple of cops along with himself," Ment said.

As Ment was calling police, DeLuca was heading to Ridgewood Road, concerned that he had been unable to reach McDermott on the phone. It was DeLuca who found McDermott slumped over the computer screen.

Police arrived and did a quick search of the home, but found that several rooms were locked and didn't try to enter them. Police were initially concerned that they could be walking into a firefight similar to what happened to Newington Officer Peter Lavery on New Year's Eve when he was gunned down while searching a house in a domestic dispute.

"We learned some lessons from the Lavery incident," Strillacci said Tuesday. "We made the decision to withdraw from the house and let the people with the protective equipment and gear do what they're trained to do. You don't want to add to the body count."

On Tuesday, more than 1,200 people, mostly students from Newington High School, filled St. Mary's Church where a candlelight memorial service for McDermott, the high school's resource officer, was held. Students decorated the altar with a large picture of her, flowers, cards, and candles, then shared their thoughts, poems and stories as part of the informal, non-denominational ceremony.

"We cannot hide the tears we shed, but we can let them fall with the ease of knowing," one student read from an original poem.

I'll post wake info later, the funeral is closed to the public.


----------



## kwflatbed

RIP Officer McDermott

A Needless Loss Of Life


----------



## kttref

Ciara M. McDermott, Police Officer, 30, of West Hartford, was uplifted into bright light, pure spirit, eternally perfect and intact on Monday, November 21, 2005. Born in Hartford, she is the cherished and beloved daughter of Peter J. McDermott and Maria (Mazzoccoli) McDermott, of Durham. Ciara was raised in Durham before recently moving to West Hartford. Ciara graduated from Mercy High School, Middletown, and Fairfield University, Fairfield, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Women's Studies. Ciara is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Ciara was a superb poet and enjoyed painting and reading. After graduating from the Police Officer Standards and Training Academy, Meriden, she joined the Newington Police Department as a Police Officer. Ciara was committed to the students of Newington High School, as the school resource officer. Ciara leaves her loving brother and sisters, Jeffrey McDermott and his wife, Jennifer, of LasVegas, NV, Lori McDermott and her husband, Brian Jessurun, of Pomfret, Marita McDermott and her fiance, Douglas Farwell, both of Easton, MD; her two nephews, Connor and Jack McDermott of Las Vegas, NV. She also leaves her aunts and uncles, William and Susan McDermott, of Southington, Brian McDermott and Sue Schwartz, of Minneapolis, MN, Maureen McDermott and her husband, Robert Olschefskie, of Old Saybrook, Joseph Mazzoccoli, of Newington, Rocco and Margaret Mazzoccoli, of Unionville, Ouida Mazzoccoli, of Tallahassee, FL, Dominic Mazzoccoli, of Rocky Hill, Susan Mazzoccoli and Margaret Mazzoccoli, both of Newington; her Godchild Ava Kowal of Durham; many dear cousins and friends, and her two adorable pugs, Gracie and Boo-Boo's. Relatives and friends are invited to call on Saturday from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Newington Memorial Funeral Home, 20 Bonair Ave., Newington. Her funeral service and interment in Cedar Hill Cemetery will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Ciara M. McDermott Scholarship Fund, c/o Capital Region Federal Credit Union, 1233 Silas Deane Highway, Wethersfield, CT 06109. To share a memory with the family, please visit us at www.newingtonmemorial.com.

Police Officers calling hours are 1-3pm


----------

