Family of slain pregnant New Britain woman faces man accused of killing her. He’s held on $5M bond.

The family of a slain woman who was pregnant with her accused killer’s child faced the man charged in her death for the first time Tuesday in a packed New Britain courtroom filled with tension and raw emotion.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit after being extradited from Pennsylvania, 46-year-old Vincent Blair of Hartford stood before a judge in New Britain Superior Court to answer charges of one count each of murder and criminal use of a firearm in the death of 27-year-old Moenisha Collins, who was found dead in an apartment at 157 Fairview St. in New Britain on Dec. 1.

Justina Collins, Moenisha’s older sister, said the 27-year-old was found bleeding from gunshot wounds by her 10-year-old daughter, and that she was pregnant at the time with Blair’s child. She said her sister was trying to get out of the relationship, which she alleges may have contributed to the motive for her homicide.

The daughter “misses her mom,” Justina Collins said outside the New Britain courthouse. “She just misses her mom. I mean, she’s a strong little girl and she’s doing the best that she can, but her mother was taken from her in a tragic, horrible way and she had to see it. She was the first one to see it.”

Blair’s arraignment came after authorities said he fled following the fatal shooting to Pennsylvania, where he was captured earlier this month before his extradition back to Connecticut on Monday. During the proceeding, Judge Maureen Keegan set bail at $5 million and consented to a prosecutor’s request that he be required to put up 75% of the bond in cash if he were to be released.

In setting Blair’s bail, Keegan cited his lengthy criminal history which includes convictions on charges of escape, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, first-degree assault, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery and other offenses. His criminal history also includes attempted murder, according to the New Britain Police Department.

The case was continued until Jan. 3, 2024, to give Blair time to decide if he wants a probable cause hearing to determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to pursue the murder charge against him. Blair waived his right to have the hearing within 60 days but not his right to the hearing itself.

As the 46-year-old was being escorted back to the lockup area, a woman who later identified herself as Deborah Copeland was asked to leave following her outburst.

“Your mother should be arrested for giving birth to you,” Copeland, who later told reporters Moenisha was her great-niece, shouted. “Punk (expletive).”

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, patrol officers from the New Britain Police Department heard a female screaming on Dec. 1 at 4:10 p.m. in the area of Fairview Street and were approached by someone who said Moenisha Collins was in an apartment and had possibly been shot. Officers found her lying face down in a pool of blood in a hallway of the apartment and found that she had like been dead “for a period of time,” the affidavit said. Medics pronounced her dead upon arrival.

Family members told police they had kicked in the door to the apartment upon receiving a phone call from Collins’ daughter indicating there was some kind of emergency, the affidavit said. They found the 10-year-old standing motionless in the apartment staring at her mother.

Police wrote in the affidavit that they immediately secured the apartment and developed Blair as a suspect. The Connecticut State Police Major Crimes Squad responded and found that Moenisha Collins had been shot at least five times, the affidavit said. Seven shell casings were found in the apartment.

Investigators wrote in the affidavit that family members told them Moenisha Collins was ending the relationship with Blair and that he was physically abusive toward her.

The 10-year-old told authorities she woke up the day of the shooting and heard her mother arguing with Blair over a bag of chips, according to the affidavit. During the argument, Moenisha Collins told him to leave and he was seen getting his things together before exiting the apartment, the 10-year-old told police.

The child told police she took the bus to school in the morning around 8:30 a.m. and when she returned home later in the day she found her mother on the floor and called her grandmother, the affidavit said.

Video surveillance in the area showed a burgundy Acura believed to be operated by Blair leaving the New Britain apartment shortly before 7:20 a.m. before returning nearly 10 minutes later, the affidavit said. The vehicle is then seen leaving about 12 minutes later speeding away, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance showed Blair had returned to the area of the apartment shortly before 9:15 a.m., but he did not park his vehicle in the driveway as he did before and instead apparently parked up the street, the affidavit said. He was then seen leaving the apartment just before 9:30 a.m., according to the affidavit.

Investigators tracked Blair’s cell phone during the hours following the shooting and found that he was at a hotel in Bensalem Township in Pennsylvania, where he was staying in a room that was rented by a 29-year-old woman, according to the affidavit. Authorities in Pennsylvania activated a Special Weapons and Tactical Team that responded to the hotel before Blair and the woman exited the room and surrendered, the affidavit said.

The woman, who lives in Philadelphia and has two children with Blair, told investigators he called her “out of the blue” and told her he was in the area, the affidavit said. He then picked her up and brought her to a Wal-Mart before heading to the hotel.

She told authorities Blair had admitted to her that he shot someone in New Britain, the affidavit said.

Police also said in the warrant affidavit that Blair, while in custody in Pennsylvania, told investigators without even being asked a question that he “was responsible for whatever they had him in there for.” Blair “subsequently confessed” to shooting Moenisha Collins following an argument and said she had tried to charge at him, according to the affidavit. He also said he ditched the gun somewhere following the shooting, the affidavit said.

Justina Collins told reporters following the arraignment hearing that it was difficult not to say anything upon seeing the man accused of killing her sister just a day after she was laid to rest.

“It made me feel sick to my stomach,” Justina Collins said. “It’s hard.”

“I just really want justice for my sister, I want justice for Moenisha,” she continued. “I don’t want another young woman to go through what she had to go through.

“He took my little sister from me, my best friend.

“My life changed in an instant,” Justina Collins continued. “A lot of people don’t understand that. Like yeah, this is news, but no, this is my life. I’m living it every single day. And I have to live knowing that a monster took my sister away from me and my family and her daughter and our life is forever changed by that.”

Following the hearing, about a dozen family members, with Justina Collins at the center, embraced each other with arms wrapped around one another and joined in a short prayer. They also called for Blair to be charged with two counts of murder in light of Moenisha Collins being pregnant at the time of her killing.

“I think we should fight for double homicide,” Copeland said.

“Send his butt somewhere they gonna give him the death penalty,” she added.

Copeland described Moenisha as a gorgeous, bubbly person whose top priority was being a mother.

“She was gorgeous and not only in the physical realm, she was gorgeous in the spiritual realm,” Copeland said. “Always smiling. But at such a young age was such a great mother.”

Justina Collins said she and her family will continue to advocate to help other victims of domestic violence avoid the same fate as her sister. She said the only warning she had that something may have been wrong was when her sister called her on Nov. 24 and said Blair had “talked aggressively to her” and that she didn’t like it. Justina Collins said she believes her sister may have been trying to protect Blair when she said nothing like that had ever happened in their relationship before.

“Please speak out and speak up and don’t be afraid,” Justina Collins said. “I know it’s a scary situation to be in if you feel like you don’t have the support and the people behind you, but there’s advocates, there’s people out there that care about you. I care about you. That’s why I’m doing this.”