Ex-boyfriend charged in woman's slaying

Victim took out restraining order against suspect

Norma Dorce Gilles had planned to move to Miami.

The estranged boyfriend of a hairdresser who left her Malden shop on Feb. 13 and never returned is facing charges that he killed her.

Lesly Cheremond, 48, of Everett was charged with first-degree murder yesterday in the death of Norma Dorce Gilles, Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone said at a press conference last night.

Police found Gilles's body Wednesday in her car, which was parked a few blocks from her salon. An autopsy determined that she died of asphyxiation after being smothered.

The prosecutor began the press conference by repeating Gilles's name. "I remind you of the name of the victim in this matter because of an all-too-familiar story line" of domestic violence, he said. "We never want to forget the victim in these matters."

Gilles's Salem Street hair salon is next door to Cheremond's music and DVD shop, Super Star Lesly C Music Productions. Gilles and Cheremond had been estranged more than a year.

Last February, Gilles sought a domestic violence restraining order against Cheremond. Leone did not detail the incident that led to the restraining order, but he said that as a result, Cheremond had been charged with aggravated assault and assault with a dangerous weapon. His trial on those charges is scheduled for April 29.

Investigators learned that Gilles, 41, and Cheremond had argued again at their shops the day before Gilles disappeared. Leone said investigators had evidence linking Cheremond to her slaying, but he declined to disclose it, saying that more information would be disclosed at the arraignment Monday in Malden District Court.

Jules Dorce, Gilles's older brother, said the two had a tumultuous, on-again-off-again relationship. Dorce said his sister had recently stopped supporting Cheremond financially. She had also been secretly planning to move to Florida to escape Cheremond and live closer to her mother in Haiti, her brother said.

Efforts to reach Cheremond this week were unsuccessful. His shop was closed Thursday. Police arrested him late in the afternoon Friday, but officials did not say where.

When Gilles did not respond to his phone calls earlier this month, Dorce said, he became concerned. He visited the shop and found a note on the door saying the salon would be closed for one week.

Dorce said he went next door and asked Cheremond where his sister had gone.

"He said: 'I don't know. I don't know anything,' " Dorce said.

Dorce said he spoke with relatives who told him that Gilles had not returned their phone calls on Valentine's Day as she usually did. Dorce said he went back to her salon again one afternoon and found Cheremond inside cleaning. He said he was surprised and suspicious because Cheremond had told him earlier that he did not have a key.

The next day, Dorce began putting up "missing" posters of his sister. He put one on the front door of her shop. After news of her death, friends and family placed white roses and candles below it.

Barber Joe Vittorioso, who works next door at Tony's Barber Shop, said Thursday that many people who live and work on Salem Street miss Gilles.

"She would knock on the [barber shop] window at night," he said, "and always give me a big smile and wave."