ANSONIA – Jose Morales, the father of missing child Vanessa Morales and the suspect in the 2019 murder of her mother, Christine Holloway, will be going to trial in the case.
Appearing in court on July 30, state prosecutors said they had been unable to reach an agreement with Morales since offering him a plea deal in January. The details of that plea deal have not been made public.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Jodi Jacobellis, Holloway’s sister-in-law, expressed frustration at the case’s slow pace but said she was happy to see it going to trial. She said it would give members of Holloway’s family – who have routinely attended Morales’ court appearances – to make themselves heard before the court.
“Myself and the family are content that it’s going to trial, because now we can prove that Jose committed this crime, and there will be justice for my sister-in-law,” Jacobellis said.
She said she was unable to share details of the plea deal. However, in a 2023 interview with CT Post, she said that any deal would need to include details of Vanessa’s whereabouts.
Jacobellis said that family members had not been kept in the loop as the case progressed, saying that it had been “well over a year” since they had been given updates from the court.
Morales’ attorney, Edward Gavin, declined to comment outside the courtroom.
A $10,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to finding Vanessa. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Vanessa, who is now 5 years old, should call the Ansonia Police Department at 203 – 735-1885 or the F.B.I. tip line at 203 – 503‑5555.
Ansonia police arrested Morales on Feb. 7, 2020 and charged him with murdering Holloway, the mother of their 1‑year-old daughter, Vanessa, inside a residence on Myrtle Avenue in late 2019.
Holloway’s body was discovered in the home on Dec. 2, 2019. She died from blunt force trauma. Both Christine and Vanessa were last seen by family members on Nov. 29, 2019.
Morales was also charged with tampering with evidence. The arrest warrant states that Morales’ DNA was identified on several pieces of evidence, and that his vehicle had been recorded leaving Holloway’s residence after the murder.
When Morales’ family was informed by Ansonia Detective Richard Esposito that Christine had been murdered, the warrant describes Morales as“sitting there unemotional as if nothing was going on.”
Morales’ story shifted several times during interviews with officers, including claims that he had been smoking PCP with a friend and that he and Holloway had been victims of a break-in that led to her murder. The arrest warrant repeatedly describes Morales as reacting with little emotion to Holloway’s murder.
Click here for a story from last December about the anniversary of Vanessa’s disappearance. The story includes an age-enhanced photo of Vanessa that was released in 2022.
Jury selection is scheduled to happen in the court’s new term, which begins September 1 and runs until August 31 next year.
