New Haven Independent

Friends, family, and the Dixwell neighborhood teens Bethea coaches in the Nation drill team gathered on Ashmun Street Tuesday night, exactly a year after the murder.

They lit 20 small Rokeach brand yahrtzeit candles and seven larger memorial candles in tribute to Bethea’s son, Robert Scott “Scotty” Bennett. Scotty was 20 years old when he was shot on the same spot in front of his aunt’s house on Ashmun following a dispute with some neighborhood kids he grew up with. (Click here for a previous story.)

Alderman Greg Morehead read a proclamation expressing condolences to Bethea on the loss of his son.

The lights were collected as a memorial, illuminating a teddy bear Bethea bought Tuesday afternoon. He named the stuffed animal Scotty.

Bethea, who’s 38, addressed the gathering in the suppertime darkness. He thanked the community for its support this past year. He expressed the hope that “justice will be served” in his son’s murder. Two young men his son knew since childhood have been accused of participating in the murder; they have denied involvement. “We’re not just losing my son,” Bethea told the gathering. “We’re going to end up losing whoever was involved in the murder… I still love the family [of the accused]. I have not hate toward them. But justice has to be served.” Click on the play arrow to watch some of his remarks.

Earlier, Bethea spoke of the difficulty of fighting off the desire for revenge.”What will your other kids do without a father” if he were to retaliate? he reasoned. “What will other kids do” without a role model? For years Bethea has coached neighborhood kids in his free time, with the Nation drill team. This past year he began working with troubled youth in the city’s new street outreach program. Last week he delivered 50 Thanksgiving turkeys, donated by a Dixwell merchant, to neighborhood families.

After the brief memorial ceremony, Bethea issued the call. Ashmun Street came alive with the drumming and dancing of the drill team. Click on the play arrow to watch a sample.

Michelle Little is the aunt whom Scotty was visiting when he was shot in front of her house, part of the attractive Monterey Place development that replaced the old Elm Haven projects. Little said Tuesday that she’d like to move. She still hears gunshots at night. And she still imagines seeing Scotty dying right outside her door. “I think about it all the time. he was right there,” she said. “His head, his whole body was on the porch.”