Petition calls to reopen investigation into Black Conn. attorney’s death

REDDING — An online petition requesting an investigation into the death of a Black attorney be reopened has launched in the wake of recent Black Lives Matter protests.

Gugsa “Abe” Dabela, 35, was found in his overturned car in town with a single gunshot wound to the head in April 2014. The Redding Police Department and state medical examiner’s office ruled Dabela’s death a suicide that year.

In 2017, the state’s attorney concluded his death wasn’t a homicide, following a three-year investigation, but Dabela’s family maintains he was killed and have accused officials of covering it up, according to a civil lawsuit.

The petition was posted to Change.org last week by Justice4Abe, the group that has been representing the family and trying to collect information about the case for years. As of Monday, the petition has garnered more than 7,000 signatures.

“In the six years following Abe’s death, Abe’s parents have tirelessly sought justice for their son and repeatedly called for the state to conduct a thorough and unbiased death investigation, but they have repeatedly been shut down, silenced, and stonewalled,” the petition states.

The petition also raises a number of questions about the circumstances surrounding Dabela’s death and the evidence in the case.

Members of the group could not be reached for comment Monday.

Stephen J. Sedensky III, the state’s attorney in Danbury, said his office, the Connecticut State Police and the Redding Police Department investigated Dabela’s death.

“Our investigation cooperated with attorney Dabela’s family’s expert Dr. Albert Harper,” Sedensky said. “I, along with members of the United States Attorney’s Office, met with attorney Dabela’s family and their attorneys. I fully went over the investigation and my conclusion with them, in addition to having multiple contacts with the family and Dr. Harper as the investigation progressed.”

He said he concluded Dabela’s death was not a homicide based on the evidence and documentation collected. He believes a full investigation has been given to Dabela’s family and the lawyers representing the family in a civil lawsuit.

“The death of Attorney Dabela was a tragedy and I continue to extend my condolences to his family for their loss,” Sedensky said.

Redding Police Chief Mark O’Donnell declined to comment on the petition because of the ongoing civil lawsuit in federal court.

The lawsuit, filed by Dabela’s father and his estate in 2016, names the town, former Chief of Police Doug Fuchs, seven officers and “Killer John Doe” as the defendants. It claims that police failed to properly investigate Dabela’s death and that his civil rights were violated in several ways.

Dabela’s family has said it didn’t make sense that he would kill himself. Following Dabela’s death, relatives said he moved to Redding in 2011 to open his own law practice and was excited about his life, family, friends and clients. They said evidence suggests someone else is responsible for his death, claiming there was no gunpowder residue on his hands and that his DNA wasn’t on the gun’s trigger or bullet found at the scene.

The defendants had asked for a summary judgment, but the court said it wouldn’t rule on that until an issue surrounding first responders’ DNA was addressed, according to court documents.

A local chapter of the NAACP also launched its own investigation into the case, but those findings haven’t been announced yet.