Bridgeport man charged with murder
Accused in the death of 35-year-old Stamford mother
STAMFORD — A Bridgeport man was charged with murder Thursday morning for allegedly killing a 35year-old Stamford mother in September.
Police said an investigation revealed that Ian “Easy” Evans, 28, is the one who pulled the trigger in the shooting death of Shernetta Dunmore at a block party on the city’s East Side.
Evans, who was already facing charges tied to the shooting, was hit with the new felony charge as he attended Stamford Superior Court on Thursday.
The warrant for his arrest, however, has been sealed for a minimum of 14 days.
Evans attended his arraignment remotely from Stamford Court’s holding cell Thursday afternoon. He listened on as Judge Bruce Hudock set a $2 million bond — in addition to the $1 million bond on which he was already being held — for his release.
Attorney Phillip Russell, who represents Evans, did not argue against the bond. He only asked that Hudock set the bond without prejudice, so that the topic could be revisited at Evans’ next court date on April 19.
During the hearing, Russell
claimed he still has not seen the warrant for his client’s arrest, nor any other documents or discovery related to the case.
But, based off what he does know about the incident, Russell said he isn’t convinced about the case against his client.
“My understanding is that there was a crowd of people firing at another crowd of people who were firing back. So how there can be a single arrest and 100 percent of the culpability attached to a single individual, who is by sheer coincidence the only human being on the scene that is not from the neighborhood, is something that will be a central theme to this trial,” Russell said after the arraignment.
On Sept. 20, Dunmore, who lived on Henry Street, joined a group of city residents celebrating the end of summer at Cummings Park. When the park closed, people moved to a parking lot for the Ursula Place Housing Complex just off Cove Road.
Just after midnight, gunfire erupted at the party. Police said about 30 shots were fired in the incident.
Dunmore was shot numerous times. She was rushed to Stamford Hospital, but died from her injuries.
Two other men, both from Bridgeport, were also injured in the shooting.
Five days after the incident, Evans was arrested
on charges of first-degree assault, criminal attempt at first-degree assault, criminal use of a firearm and reckless endangerment.
Police said at the time the arrest was related to the wounding of a man at the party.
In February, Evans pleaded not guilty to those initial charges.
Since her death, Dunmore has been widely mourned by friends and family in Stamford.
Dunmore was born and raised in Stamford. She graduated from Bassick High School in Bridgeport and then went to Maine where she became a Jobs Corps graduate and learned about the culinary arts, her brother Jamal, said.
Before she died, Dunmore was working a security job to make ends meet and create a good life for her son, her brother said, adding his sister will be greatly missed in the Stamford community where she had a “ton of friends.”