Man accused in 23-year-old's kidnapping and death will remain in jail

BOSTON — The man accused of kidnapping a Boston woman and driving to Delaware with her lifeless body in his trunk will continue to be held in federal custody.

Louis Coleman appeared in a federal courtroom in Boston Monday afternoon to answer for the charge of kidnapping resulting in death. Because the charge is in federal court, Coleman could face the death penalty if convicted -- even though Massachusetts has abolished it.

Federal marshals returned Coleman to Boston from Delaware over the weekend, setting the legal stage for a trial in a case that has shocked New England.

Coleman, dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit, acknowledged his family members present in the courtroom before he was briefed on his rights by the judge magistrate.

Family members of Jassy Correia, the 23-year-old mother who was found dead in and bound in a suitcase when Coleman was arrested in Delaware, were also present in the courtroom.

A criminal complaint describes Coleman walking into his Providence, Rhode Island apartment building carrying a body with long hair in the early morning hours after Correia went missing following a night out at Venu nightclub in Boston.

Coleman allegedly put the victim on the floor and dragged her to the building's elevator.

“It appears, preliminar[il]y, she died from blunt force trauma and strangulation," U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said a news conference recently. “It appears she put up a struggle."

Lelling said there were cracks in the windshield of Correia's car on the passenger side but officials do not know if they were due to a struggle in the car.

Investigators now say they believe Coleman had Correia's body in his apartment for nearly four days.

Documents allege, during that time, surveillance footage and a receipt from a Providence Walmart shows he purchased a list of items, including three Tyvek suits, duct and electrical tape, a mask, surgical gloves, an odor respirator and bleach

In the early morning hours of Feb. 28, Coleman was seen wheeling a suitcase out of the building and lifting it into the trunk of his car, according to officials.

Nearly 12 hours later, he was stopped by state troopers in Delaware. When Coleman was asked if anyone else was in the car, Coleman reportedly said, "She’s in the trunk."

A medical examiners report indicates Jassy suffered blunt force trauma and that she was strangled.

Authorities believe Coleman and Correia did not know each other, but the two crossed paths four days earlier in Boston’s Theatre District where Correia was celebrating her 23rd birthday.

Video surveillance cameras recorded Correia getting into Coleman's car on Tremont Street shortly after 2:16 in the morning.

Suffolk County DA Rachel Rollins attended Coleman's federal hearing. She's pleased Coleman is being tried in federal court.

"We are just happy that this individual is brought back into this jurisdiction so that we can hold him accountable here where her family is," DA Rollins said. "And they don’t have to travel in addition to dealing with this horrific situation in their lives."

This was the second kidnapping of a young woman outside a Boston bar this year.

In January, police arrested Victor Peña for kidnapping a 23-year-old woman after she left Hennessey’s Bar in Fanueil Hall. She was found alive in his Charlestown apartment three days after she went missing. But Correia’s family wasn’t so lucky.

So now police want to meet with bar owners to see if there’s anything else that can be done to increase safety and security in Boston.

That meeting will take place Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Iron Workers Union Building on Old Colony Ave.

Cox Media Group