New Haven Independent

Vincent’s daughter, Tavare, and Jajuana, or “Nonnie,” as she liked to be called, “spent every day together,” recalled Vincent Wednesday, sitting in New Haven Superior Court awaiting a court appearance by the two teen boys who were caught on tape spraying bullets into a courtyard on Dixwell’s Dickerman Street in June.

Nonnie, who was 13, died from a shot to the back from one of those stray bullets. Three other girls were hit, including Krystal Hammet and Tavare Wilcher.

Vincent remembers the night clearly. Tavare was in the courtyard when a car full of boys from the rival ‘Ville area got out, sprayed bullets, and ran off, catching the event on videotape. Tavare was grazed by bullets on her face and the back of her legs, said her mother. They burned her skin.

Tavare ran home to nearby Bristol Street. She was screaming, in shock. Since then, the 15 year-old hasn’t been the same. Police have arrested her twice for getting in fights. One time, a girl spoke ill of Nonnie, and Tavare got a shoe and walloped her on the head, sending the girl to the floor.

“She got a short fuse now,” said Vincent. Her daughter, like several kids who were there that night on Dickerman Street, is seeing a therapist to work through the anger and grief.

Meanwhile, the house, which Nonnie used to visit every day, is quiet. Tavare mentions her every day: “If Nonnie were here … ”

“My baby feels like this is a never-ending nightmare,” said Vincent. She said no sentence would be long enough for the five boys charged in Nonnie’s shooting.

Then she remembered how the other side feels. One of her own relatives was arrested for shooting a different 13 year-old this summer: Justus Suggs. The 16 year-old charged in that shooting was Vincent’s nephew. On top of that, Justus used to play with Tavare when they were neighbors growing up on Newhall Street. With empathy on both sides for how gun violence is taking over teens’ lives, Vincent said she felt “torn.”

These days, Vincent, like Jajuana’s mother, Sonda Whitfield, is spending time thinking about how to get involved — livening up parades, creating activities for kids, joining mothers against gun violence. “I start thinking, I should do something from the kids.”

Vincent and Whitfield attended court to see the two boys who cops say were the triggermen — Daniel Carter and Tremayne Sanders — come before court. The two mothers left after consulting with prosecutors and learning that Carter’s case would be continued to another day, with no significant motions made.