Fall River couple convicted of murder & manslaughter in connection with death of New Bedford’s Adilson Neves

A 26-year-old Fall River man pled guilty in Fall River Superior Court last Friday afternoon to the Second-Degree Murder of 36-year-old Adilson Neves, who was shot to death in New Bedford in June of 2021, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

In addition to Second Degree Murder, Daquan Blanchard, also pled guilty to an indictment charging him with Armed Assault with Intent to Rob. The defendant was sentenced by Judge Renee Dupuis to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.

Blanchard’s co-defendant and accomplice, Cheyenne Miranda, 34, of Fall River, also pled guilty last Friday to indictments charging her with Manslaughter and Armed Assault with Intent to Rob. She was sentenced by Judge Dupuis to serve five to 10 years in state prison.

On June 2, 2021, New Bedford Police responded to 67 David Street for the report of a shooting. They found Neves in the roadway with a gunshot wound to his back. He was brought to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. At the time of his death, Neves had $820 in his pocket. Neves was found outside of a grey Toyota Camry. The Camry had a shattered front driver’s side window, and the front passenger seat door was open. A gold iPhone was found a few feet away from where Neves was located.

The police obtained surveillance video showing that the Toyota Camry followed a silver SUV to the area of the shooting. After the shooting, a witness took a cell phone video of the silver SUV leaving David Street and Neves’ body in the roadway. Other surveillance cameras around New Bedford captured the silver SUV as it drove on different streets. At the intersection of Coggeshall Street and Acushnet Avenue, a city camera captured the license plate of the silver SUV, which was registered to Cheyanne Miranda.

The police analyzed the gold iPhone found near Neves and confirmed that he was the owner. When they examined his phone calls and text messages, they discovered that earlier in the day on June 2, 2021, Miranda’s phone contacted Neves’s phone. The subject of the communications showed that Miranda was attempting to sell Neves prescription drugs. After some negotiation, Neves agreed to purchase Percocet pills from Miranda.

Surveillance was then established on Miranda’s Fall River apartment. Detectives saw Miranda drive her silver SUV away from her apartment and they stopped the car. During the stop, the police saw an empty handgun holster in the center console. The police seized her car and cell phone pending the execution of search warrants. Miranda agreed to an interview and told the police that she was driving her car all day and that she was never on David Street. Miranda acknowledged knowing Neves and that he contacted her for Percocet but denied seeing him that day or having any knowledge of the shooting. Miranda told the police that she was only with her friend during the day and that at approximately 4:00 P.M., she and the friend picked up Miranda’s children from two different day cares in New Bedford and then she drove back to her apartment. Miranda was released after her interview but was prevented from going back to her apartment while the police executed a search warrant. Miranda lived at the apartment with her three young children and her boyfriend, Daquan Blanchard. During the search warrant, the police found a user’s manual for a Toyota Camry in the trashcan outside the home. The owner’s manual had a handwritten VIN on the cover. The VIN was the same VIN for the Toyota Camry driven to David Street by Neves.

The police located Miranda’s friend, who came to the New Bedford police station for an interview. The friend told the police that she was riding with Miranda when she picked up Blanchard. The friend reported that the SUV stopped in an industrial area (David Street) and Blanchard got out of the car. She saw and heard Blanchard arguing with another man and then heard gunshots. Blanchard reentered the car and Miranda drove away. After retrieving Miranda’s children, Miranda dropped off Blanchard somewhere in New Bedford.

Miranda was arrested on June 4, 2021. After her arrest, another witness told the police that the day after the shooting, Miranda confessed about the shooting, saying that it “wasn’t supposed to happen that way” and “it was only supposed to be about the money”.

With the assistance of the U.S. Marshall’s, Blanchard was located and arrested in Greenville, North Carolina on June 15, 2021.

A post-indictment investigation revealed that Blanchard’s fingerprints were on the Toyota Camry driven by Neves. The police found that Neves “borrowed” the Camry from a mechanic in Brockton on June 2, 2021. The owner of the vehicle did not give permission for anyone to take her vehicle. Blanchard’s fingerprints could only have been put on the Camry during the shooting and robbery.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jason Mohan and Danielle Pixley.

“I am pleased the defendant accepted responsibility for the senseless killing of the victim during a drug-related robbery. I know the victim’s family will never get over the loss of their loved one, especially given the violent manner in which his death occurred. I hope the defendants’ guilty pleas and convictions for murder and manslaughter will provide them with some closure to this terrible tragedy,” District Attorney Quinn said.