LOPEZ

PROVIDENCE — Hamlet Lopez, a former teacher’s aide widely known within the state’s Hispanic community for his frequent commenting on community events on Hispanic talk radio and at public events, was charged with murder yesterday in the brutal slaying of a 41-year-old daycare provider with whom he had a stormy relationship.

The police said Miledis Hilario, Lopez’s girl friend, had been stabbed repeatedly and left on the floor of her second-floor apartment at 42 Courtland St., where she ran her daycare business. Her body was discovered around 10:45 p.m. Sunday after one of her teenage daughters, who was at work at a Walgreen drugstore, asked the police to check on her because there had been threats on her mother’s life and she could not reach her by phone.

Clement and Esperanza Carter, who purchased the three-story building from Hilario two years ago and live on the third floor, said Hilario was a “beautiful, elegant and nice lady” who cared for children. But they said the daycare provider’s relationship with Lopez appeared to be a rocky one, with Lopez leaving the apartment for a period and then returning, then leaving again.

The Carters said there were several instances when Hilario asked the police to come to the house to make Lopez leave. But police detective Maj. Stephen Campbell said there is no record of domestic violence at the household until Friday when Lopez allegedly showed up after a 15-day absence in an apparent attempt to rekindle their 18-month relationship. By the time the night was over, he slashed her mattress and threatened her with a knife, the police said.

When the police arrived, Hilario had already taken refuge elsewhere in Providence at the home of her sister, and Lopez seemed to have taken flight.

The Carters say they and Hilario’s relatives now believe Lopez never left the apartment and was hiding when Hilario’s son came by on Saturday to change the locks, leaving Lopez to lie in wait.

Despite pleas from her sister, Hilario returned to her apartment with her two daughters, ages 14 and 18, assuring her that “nothing is going to happen.”

Her slaying was the fourth homicide in Providence this year. With information gathered from relatives and others, police went to a triple-decker house at 39 Bellevue Ave. that Lopez owns. After being told that Lopez did not live there, Lt. Luis San Lucas, along with Sgt John Kaya, and Officers Greg Daniels, Michael Cumerford and John Costa prowled around and heard something fall inside the detached garaged.

They kicked in a couple of panels from the overhead door and spotted Lopez in the cluttered garage standing next Hilario’s van, which he had stolen, according to the police.

Lopez formerly worked for many years as a teacher’s aide at the Lima School and as a janitor in the school system. He became a frequent visitor to meetings of the Providence School Committee, where, on occasion, he railed about the lack of a Spanish interpreter. He was also a frequent guest and caller to two of Providence’s Hispanic radio stations, El Poder 1110-AM (WPMZ) and Latino Public Radio 88.1-FM (WELH), where he would talk about events in the Hispanic community.

Yesterday, he stood before District Court Judge Michael Higgins, dressed in a white jump suit, with his face buried in his hands.

There were several family members in the courtroom as he was led in, and one of them began to cry.

Higgins ordered Lopez to be held without bail pending a bail hearing on June 4.

Lopez was well known to listeners of Hispanic radio.

Tony Mendez, general manager of El Poder said that he last saw Lopez a couple of months ago when Lopez showed up at Community College of Rhode Island to comment on a filmed documentary about the Dominican Republic. He also heard a call from Lopez to the station a couple of weeks ago to talk about the need for housing.

“He was someone who had an opinion about everything, and he was very passionate about issues affecting Hispanics,” Mendez said. “That made him controversial at times, but I never knew him to be violent. This is very tragic, very shocking. I think that in our morning talk show we will try to examine what makes a man do that.”

Raymond Almonte, who runs Latino Public Radio, had a slightly different take. “At the very beginning, he was very active in the community and we used to have him on the air because he was helping the community. But two or three years ago, when he was splitting from his wife, he started acting too crazy, and we decided not to have him on. “I feel sorry for the family of Miledis Hilario.”

Among those expressing condolences yesterday Gladys Goon, who had lived across the street from Hilario, on Penn Street. She observed that Hilario and upstairs neighbors were the only ones on the entire block to light up their home this past Christmas with decorations. “I used to see the parents dropping over their children at her house. She was a quiet and very sweet person.”

Yesterday, the police posted a sign in front of the house with the notice “Day Care is closed,” with a number to phone police. Yesterday, the health-care and child-care workers union to which Hilario belonged said it learned that the family needed money to ship her body to the Dominican Republic and appealed for donations. Contributions may be sent to Maria Reyes c/o SEIU District 1199, 55 Cedar St., Suite 101, Providence 02903.

With reports from projo.com staff writer Michael McKinney

rdujardi@projo.com