New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
20 homicides in 2020: So many ‘have lost loved ones’
NEW HAVEN — There were 20 homicide victims in New Haven in 2020, the most since 2013when the same mark was reached.
Cities across the country have seen an increase in violence during the pandemic, including in Connecticut, which Police Chief Otoniel Reyes and Mayor Justin Elicker have noted over the course of the year.
“We take the violence very, very seriously. There’s so many people in the community that have lost loved ones because of COVID and violence unnecessarily,”
said Elicker, noting that New Haven police will do everything they can to bring perpetrators of violence to justice.
Elicker said the city, as well as society as a whole, needs to address systemic racism and associated inequality to get at the root causes of gun violence, and offered condolences to those that have lost loved ones this year.
Reyes declined to comment for this story, noting that he would present an end-of-year look at homicides and crime in New Haven at the first Compstat intelligence gathering meeting of the year in January.
But in announcing the arrest of a New Haven man in connection with Lewis’ death Dec. 11, Reyes said the department would not forget about those killed and “work tirelessly” to bring to justice those who commit violence, as detectives continue to work open cases.
“I know there are families out there that have not had closure for the loss of their family members. This case is symbolic of the hard work of the men and women of this department, but also that we do not give up on these cases,” said Reyes.
“Our goal is to be able to bring justice to every family member that has lost a loved one in our city,” Reyes has said.
Elicker said the city is engaged in a series of programs designed to diminish the level of gun violence in New Haven, from Youth Connect, which works with at-risk young people, to a new reentry station for people returning to the community from prison, designed to aid them in finding services and a stable connection to life in the city.
These issues are a “BandAid” on the larger systemic issues of racism and inequality, he noted.
The department is expected to hold a press event analyzing crime trends and violence in early 2021, Reyes has said.
These are the people who died as a result of homicide in the city in 2020, with some of their stories, drawn from news accounts, interviews and obituaries:
Dashown Myers, 18, was fatally wounded near 1425 Quinnipiac Ave. on Feb. 24.
His mother, LaQuiva Jones, said her son was book smart and street smart, as well as a gifted football player at Wilbur Cross High School. She spoke to those attending a vigil held in his honor, sharing the pain and grief that has entered her life.
She asked those gathered, mainly teenagers and youths, to turn away from the streets, refrain from violently seeking retribution for her son, and find God.
“My heart is broken. There’s nobody but God that keeps me standing, and the fact that my son loved me and I loved my child. But to see my daughter, to see my grandson, calling for somebody that’s never going to come back is heart-wrenching. Heaven and hell is real,” said Jones. “Please, stop this, this senseless (violence). Because this, right here, is senseless. ... My baby lost his life for absolutely nothing.”
Nathaniel Henry, 24, was fatally wounded in a parking lot at 75 Whalley Ave. April 28. Henry was found by police after a car crash near the street’s intersection with Broadway, police said. Elicker at the time noted the sadness felt in the “loss of the member of our community.”
Secundino Ramirez, 29, was fatally wounded following an altercation on Congress Avenue at Cedar Street just after midnight on April 28.
Roberto Rivera, 34, died after a triple-shooting on Lloyd Street on May 22. According to his obituary, he was a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and left behind a brother, a sister and a son.
Robert Lee Joines, 29, was found wounded in a parking lot in the 1300 block of Quinnpiac Avenue on
June 8. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
Nancy Rivas, 33, of West Haven, was found unresponsive in a residential driveway on Arthur Street on June 12. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide, finding that she died from strangulation.
Stephen Rivas, her brother, called on the community to share information about her death.
Rivas said his fondest memories of his sister came when they were young. Raised in a religious household, they would go to church camp together, walking their path toward faith. They also would go on long road trips together and talk about what they wanted out of life.
Kiana Brown, 19, was shot while she was sleeping in a Valley Street home on June 17.
The Rev. D’Hati Burgess, Brown’s uncle, said she was his brother’s eldest child and only daughter. She was a talented basketball player and played on the 2019 Hillhouse High School team that won the Class L state championship.
Burgess described his niece as a passionate, caring, lovely person who cared about those around her. She was “the family comedian,” able to find humor in the small, mundane moments of life.
Luis Nelson Perez, 27, of Naugatuck, was found wounded on Elliot Street on June 20 and later died.
Joel Price, 29, of New York state, was found in a parking lot several hundred feet behind a business near 301 Sargent Drive on June 30.
Ricky Newton, 36, was wounded on Rosette Street on July 10. According to his obituary, he was a husband, a father to three children and a parishioner at St. Martin de Porres Church.
Howard Lewis, 40, was shot while sitting in his car with his son and brother on Munson Street on July 14. He was a husband, and a father of 10, according to his obituary.
Ibrahim Valentino Shareef Jr., 33, was found wounded inside a corner store on Whalley Avenue on July 14.
Carlos Gonzalez, 22, of Meriden, was shot in the area of Kimberly Avenue and First Street on Aug. 2. According to his obituary, he was a New Haven native, attending Wilbur Cross and Common Ground high schools, and had two sons.
Sterling Timmone, 30, was stabbed in the back near his home on Whalley Avenue Aug. 3. In his obituary, family members said Timmone “will be forever be remembered for his generous spirit, boisterous personality, infectious smile, and caring heart.”
“Words cannot express the depth of this loss or the impact he had on those around him,” his family said.
Day’Shon Smith, 28, was shot, along with four others, on Rosette Street Aug. 15. Tennille Murphy, his aunt, said Smith was a “just a beautiful soul, inside and out,” who had lived his life with determination and grit.
She said he was an example of “taking obstacles and turning them into something,” from his love for his family to his boxing career to his professional life, in which he worked with young people.
Smith was a talented boxer, dubbed the “Superfreak” for his physical gifts and ability, his trainer and Ring One Boxing owner Brian Clark said.
But outside of the ring, Clark said Smith was quiet, respectful — “just a decent kid.”
Jerome Christopher Moye, 37, was shot on Hazel Street Aug. 30. He left behind his mother, five daughters and “a host of other relatives and friends who loved him deeply,” according to his obituary.
Divonne J. Coward, 27, was killed on Exchange Street Sept. 30. He was a
New Haven native and an Army veteran, according to his obituary.
Family members said he was “a serious health nutritionist, a financial conservator, and a big kid at heart. He loved wrestling with his little cousins, and most of all being someone you can count on in any time of need.”
“To honor him is to keep his memory alive,” family members said.
Natosha Gaines, 44, was fatally shot in a Quinnipiac Avenue apartment on Oct. 17. She was a New Haven native, the mother of three children, and worked as a certified nursing assistant for many years, according to her obituary.
Allen Leeshawn Freeman, 33, of Middletown, was fatally wounded on Bassett Street Nov. 6.
Known as “Shawny Roc,” Freeman had “a smile that brightened even the darkest of rooms” and an “infectious laugh (that) caught the attention of all who crossed his path,” according to his obituary.
Tyree Bellamy, 24, was shot on Grace Street Nov. 17. Bellamy was a New Haven native, characterized by a “caring and loving energy” that he carried from youth into young adulthood, family members said in his obituary .
“Ty could always be found dancing a two-step, in front of a camera smiling ear to ear, and being a jokester,” family members said. “He had a young heart with an old soul. Ty was a beloved son, brother, father, nephew, cousin, and friend to many.”
There have been 24 homicides this year in Bridgeport, according to the Connecticut Post, up from 17 last year. That’s the highest number since 2006, when there were 30 homicides in the Park
City. In 2018, there were 23 homicides; in 2008, there were 21.
In Hartford, as of Dec. 19, there had been 23 homicides, equaling the total from 2019, according to the Hartford Police Department. There were 10 in that city in 2018, according to the department.
There were 12 homicides in New Haven in 2019, up from 10 in 2018. There were 34 in the city in 2011 and 20 in 2013.
Elicker recently outlined his thoughts on the violence in the city this year in an opinion piece.
New Haven has been working to end gun violence for decades. The New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence on Valley Street was recently created by mothers who lost children.
There are more than 600 bricks laid there, each representing a life cut short by gun violence in New Haven since 1976.
“No one’s born wanting to engage in gun violence,” said Elicker.