Boston Mayor Wu staffer on leave months after felony assault arrest

BOSTON — A staffer for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu remains on unpaid leave after she was arrested on a felony assault charge in connection with a domestic violence incident earlier this year.

Daunasia Yancey, 33, of Jamaica Plain, was arrested on Friday, April 11, and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint obtained Wednesday by Boston 25.

Officers responding to a report of domestic assault at 5 Mills Street in Roxbury around 1:40 p.m. on April 11 spoke with a woman who said she had been physically attacked during a dispute over a birth certificate in a locked safe, Boston Municipal Court documents indicated.

The victim reportedly told officers that her ex-wife’s new girlfriend, identified in the court documents as Yancey, assaulted her in an attempt to take the safe from her.

Daunasia Yancey Daunasia Yancey -- Credit: daunasiayancey.com (Daunasia Yancey -- Credit: daunasiayancey.com)

During the altercation, Yancey allegedly grabbed the victim, threw her out of her bed, and slammed her into a wall. Before leaving the home, Yancey told the victim that she planned to take the locked safe to Home Depot to open it, according to the documents.

As officers continued to speak with the victim of the alleged assault, Yancey returned to the scene and was taken into custody, police said.

When Boston 25 asked the city about Yancey’s arrest on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Wu’s office issued a brief statement that read, “Daunasia Yancey is currently on unpaid leave.”

The spokesperson said the city learned about Yancey’s arrest “through the employee’s own disclosure,” and she was placed on leave on April 15.

“Once the City was able to obtain more specific information the employee was placed on unpaid leave on May 7, 2025,” a city spokesperson said.

Yancey’s official profile on the city’s website is no longer active, but her business website shows that she had been serving as deputy director in Wu’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement. She’s also the founder of the Black Lives Matter Boston chapter.

News of Yancey’s arrest had been kept quiet until now, and it comes after two other members of Wu’s administration were terminated in May over domestic violence charges.

Yancey’s criminal case has been continued to July 10.

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