Beloved school nurse killed by former neighbor outside her Braintree home

A beloved school nurse was shot to death in the entryway to her Braintree home Wednesday morning by a former neighbor dressed in all brown like a deliveryman, authorities said.

Officers responding to 911 calls shortly before noon found Laurie Melchionda, the director of health services at Weston Public Schools, suffering from “obvious, multiple” gunshot wounds, and her former neighbor, Robert Bonang, still outside her Howie Road home, Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said.

Melchionda, 59, was rushed to South Shore Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Bonang, 61, of Marshfield, obeyed police commands and was taken into custody. Morrissey declined to say whether a weapon was found.

The suspect is expected to be arraigned electronically on Thursday through Quincy District Court on murder and firearms charges, said David Traub, a spokesman for Morrissey.

When he was arrested, Bonang was wearing brown, similar to the uniform of some delivery people, authorities said.

“We believe this is a targeted event,” Morrisey said, but he declined to comment on a motive.

There had been “multiple, previous contacts” between Braintree Police Department and Bonang, Traub said. However, neither Traub nor the police would provide details.

Melchionda was “extremely well thought of,” Morrissey said.

In a statement, Weston Public Schools Superintendent Midge Connolly said: “It is with deepest grief that I share with you that Weston’s Director of Health Services and Field School Nurse, Laurie Melchionda, was tragically shot and killed outside her Braintree home this morning. We are reeling from this shocking and devastating news.”

With more than 30 years of nursing experience, Connolly said, Melchionda was hired as health services director in 2018.

“In her two years at Weston, she made a tremendous impact in supporting the health and well-being of all of our students, working closely with her nursing staff, educators, families, service providers and town leaders,” the superintendent said.

“Most recently, Laurie was the primary liaison between the schools and the Weston Board of Health throughout the COVID-19 crisis and was instrumental in guiding and supporting the school and the town,” Connolly added. “We are suffering a tremendous loss. Laurie brought professionalism, expertise, warmth and caring to our school community every day. We will be spending many difficult moments grieving her loss.”

Dan Quirk, 33, said he grew up in the house next to Melchionda’s when she worked at what is now the Mary E. Flaherty School.

“She was just an extremely nice, genuine person,” Quirk said. “She was our nurse.”

Bonang lived in the house across the street from where Melchionda lived with her husband and three children, he said, and she would often tell Quirk’s grandmother that he made her feel uncomfortable. Bonang moved out in about 2015 after the death of his parents, Quirk said.

“But why, five years later,” he said, “would he come back and do this?”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2YR6rKq