City man pleads guilty to killing councilman’s son, gets 30 years

BRIDGEPORT — A leader at a local inmate reentry program told a judge Friday he was unhappy with the state’s justice system for letting his son’s killer get a reduced sentence.

“I took a life and I went to prison and I know 30 years is not 30 years,” Frederick Hodges told Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton as the judge prepared to sentence 42year-old Tivon Taylor of Bridgeport for the death of Hodges’ son Shelby Frederick.

“This gentleman took my son’s life, he shot him in the back,” Hodges said.

Hodges served 17 years for killing a man who took his son’s bicycle. He is now a Bridgeport councilman and director of community affairs and director of Enterprise House at Family ReEntry in Bridgeport.

According to its web site, “Family ReEntry has a longstanding history of helping formerly incarcerated men and women by offering transitional services to encourage a smooth reentry back into the community.”

“No one is supposed to bury their own child and, honestly, 400 years is not enough time,” Dayton told Hodges. But she continued that she made the decision to offer Taylor a plea bargain.

“When a defendant is willing to say ‘I’m guilty’ and has shown some remorse than I make an offer,” the judge said. “Trials can be painful to the victim’s family and, with a guilty plea, you don’t have to come back to court again.”

The judge sentenced Taylor to 30 years in prison, followed by 10 years of special parole.

Taylor previously pleaded guilty to murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the March 18, 2022, shooting death of the 43-year-old Frederick.

Taylor’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Kelly

Billings, told the judge that her client was accepting responsibility for his actions, as Taylor stood beside her crying.

“I’m sorry for my actions,” Taylor said,. “I’m sorry Mr. Hodges, I’m sorry.”

Shortly after 11:30 p.m. on March 18, police said they received a ShotSpotter alert of two gunshots fired on Stratford Avenue. When officers responded to the scene, police said they found Frederick lying face down in the roadway with a gunshot wound to the left side of his back.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, detectives recovered video from the location. The video showed Frederick leaving Tae’s Lounge on Stratford Avenue followed by Taylor and a woman, later identified as Taylor’s wife, the affidavit states.

The video shows Taylor approaching Frederick, then two muzzle flashes and the victim falling to the ground, the affidavit states. Taylor then walked away from the scene.

The affidavit continues that detectives also viewed video from the bar which shows Taylor and Frederick engaged in a brief dispute before it was broken up.

When detectives later confronted Taylor, the affidavit states that Taylor told them he knew Frederick well, they had served time in prison together and Taylor stated he had even attended the vigil for the victim after his death. However, he denied shooting Frederick.

But, two days later, when detectives were about to search Taylor’s apartment, the affidavit states they received a phone call from Taylor telling them they wouldn’t find the gun in the apartment.

“I got rid of it. I got that (expletive) melted down,” the affidavit states Taylor told detectives. The affidavit states that Taylor then confessed to shooting Frederick.