Judge orders teen charged with accidentally killing friend tried as adult

BRIDGEPORT — A 16-year-old boy, accused of accidentally fatally shooting his best friend in the head, will be tried as an adult.

Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton on Tuesday transferred the case of 16-year-old Elijah Reid, of Valley Avenue, to the adult docket.

Reid is charged with first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal transfer of a gun, risk of injury to a minor, first-degree reckless endangerment and illegal discharge of a firearm.

During a brief hearing Tuesday afternoon, Reid stood with his mother and his lawyer, Robert Berke, before the judge.

After reviewing the arrest warrant affidavit, Dayton ordered the case continued to Nov. 9.

Berke and his client declined comment as they later left the Golden Hill Street courthouse.

Reid is accused of shooting 16-year-old Nigel Powell in the right side of the head on Oct. 11. Powell was pronounced dead at St. Vincent’s Medical Center.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Reid told detectives he, Powell and two other friends had been in Reid’s bedroom listening to music and smoking marijuana when Reid pulled out a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun he had hidden in a drawer.

Reid claimed Powell was examining the gun when it went off, shooting Powell in the head, the affidavit states. He initially claimed he found the gun on the ground in the Trumbull Gardens housing project.

However, according to the affidavit, the other two boys gave police a different story.

They claimed Reid had pulled the gun out of a drawer and was dancing around the room with it, the affidavit states. The affidavit continues that the other boys warned Reid to be careful but he continued waving it around pretending to shoot the other boys.

The boys said they then heard a loud noise and saw a fireball as Powell fell to the floor, the affidavit states.

The affidavit states that detectives interviewed Reid again, and this time he admitted he had accidentally shot Powell.

Reid said he had pulled out the gun and put a magazine in it, the affidavit states.

“Elijah stated all he remembers seeing was a fireball and after that is when he saw Powell on the couch bleeding. Elijah stated the gun was in his hand when the gun went off. He never meant for this to happen. Elijah was best friends with Powell,” the affidavit states.

Asked again by detectives where he had gotten the gun, the affidavit states that Reid states that he had bought it from an unidentified person for $700 on Labor Day weekend.

He said he bought the gun because he had been scared by a shooting incident that had occurred outside his house in August, the affidavit states.