nothin Police Probe 2 Homicides; Father Mourned | New Haven Independent

Police Probe 2 Homicides; Father Mourned

Melissa Bailey Photo

Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo

As police chased down leads Wednesday in two overnight homicides, two West Hills teens grappled with the loss of a mentor and father figure.

Shun Jackson and Dejuan Ward (pictured above, from left) sat on a low fence Wednesday afternoon outside the McConaughy Terrace housing project in the far Western part of town. Across the street, police held a crime scene at 505 Valley St., where their friend was gunned down in one of two homicides early Wednesday.

The two boys, both 15, were on the phone when gunshots rang out on Valley Street just after midnight Wednesday. They didn’t think much of it, even when an ambulance wailed by shortly afterward. Then, Dejuan got a text from Kevin Lee’s 13-year-old son: his father was dead.

I was so shocked, I could not go to sleep,” Dejuan said.

A half an hour after Lee was shot, another man was killed at the Church Street South housing complex near Union Station. Police say Issah Gantt, 23, was fatally shot in the head in front of 1A Cinque Green. The shootings appear to be unrelated, according to police.

At a press conference on Valley Street Wednesday afternoon, Police Chief Frank Limon and Asst. Chief John Velleca said investigators have strong leads in both cases.

Gantt was shot after getting into an argument. Police said they’re looking for the person with whom he fought, and consider that person a suspect.

Police said Lee was visiting the bungalow when he was shot; the home owner is in custody on drug-related charges after marijuana was found inside. Neighbors, however, said Lee lived in the house.

Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo

Velleca and Limon.

Velleca (at left in photo, with Limon) said it’s unclear whether Lee’s murder was drug-related, or whether he simply got caught in the middle of a bad situation. The owner of the home is considered a person of interest in the case, if only because Lee died on his doorstep. He’s not talking, Velleca said.

With any luck, that will change, and he’ll start offering some information,” he said.

Lee, 34, was known around the neighborhood for his big smile and bigger pit bull dog. He had two sons, ages 8 and 13, and a little girl who’s 5 or 6, according to the teens. To Dejuan and Shun, he was a surrogate dad.

He used to always want to see our report cards,” Shun said.

And if we did good, we would get rewarded,” Dejuan added. He was a happy dude. Everybody around here loved him.”

Detectives were combing both crime scenes for evidence Wednesday morning. Three officers from the bureau of identification peered into a trash bin near the side entrance to 505 Valley St., a one-story home that’s under renovation. On the side steps, four yellow markers identified the spots where shell casings had fallen. The glass on the storm door was broken, apparently by gunfire.

Melissa Bailey Photo

Yulonja Hoskie (pictured) walked by the scene with her chihuahua, Taco. She’d seen Lee buying juice at Mike’s Deli at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. A few hours later, she too got a disturbing text from a friend: they killed kev.”

It’s crazy,” said Hoskie, still reeling from the news. We was just together.”

Hoskie said she became friends with Lee after she moved into McConaughy Terrace last June. The deli where she saw him Tuesday is further down the street. She bought chips. Lee picked up some juice, she said.

Hoskie went back home with her son and her nephew. The young ones were playing Kinect. This week is school vacation, so she let them stay up until midnight.

The next thing we heard was pow, pow, pow!” Hoskie recalled.

About 45 minutes later, she got a text message from a friend: they killed kev.”

He got shot right on the steps,” she said.

The incident left her afraid to open the door. When the police made the rounds through the neighborhood, she didn’t let them in until they showed ID.

I’m not opening the door until you show that badge,” she recalled saying.

Hoskie didn’t see the crime. She said knowing Lee, the killing doesn’t make sense.

Melissa Bailey Photo

Lee’s home at 505 Valley St.

Lee was well-known around the neighborhood. He’d ride his bike around, and pedal over to Dixwell Avenue to visit his kids. He had two pit bulls, she said. Every day, she’d see him walking his red-nosed pit bull, which is big, like a horse.”

They’d joke about how Lee’s dog would eat up” her little Taco, whom she rescued from a shelter. In the light rain Wednesday morning, the tiny chihuahua shivered on the sidewalk.

Despite his dog’s imposing presence, Lee never bothered anyone, Hoskie said.

I’m trying to figure out who he have a beef with,” she said. He was cool with everybody.”

Records show Lee served three years’ probation for third-degree larceny stemming from a 2003 offense; he was also convicted in 2006 of criminal impersonation.

Hoskie said the killing has left her itching to move out. Following the footsteps of her entrepreneurial dad, Hoskie is trying to start her own business. She said she and her son got moved to McConaughy Terrace after a mold problem in their Westville Manor home. At Westville Manor, she said, crime dropped dramatically after the housing authority installed cameras. She urged McConaughy Terrace to follow suit.

They shooting all the time up here,” she said. I don’t want to live up here any more.”

Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo

Across town, the crime scene at Church Street South was nothing more than a fist-sized bloodstain at the edge of the curb in front of Apartment 1A on Cinque Green by mid-morning Wednesday. Even that was gone after DeMarco Management worker John Rivera (pictured) used hot water and a broom to wash it away.

Neighbors said they heard shots in the wee hours, but knew nothing about what happened. They said the victim was known to sit on a milk crate outside the ground-floor apartment, but that they didn’t think he lived there.

Records show Gantt has a short criminal record, with convictions for forgery and possession of small amounts of marijuana.

At the press conference, Limon said the shootings drive home the point that gun violence is a serious problem.

We need to get the message out: It’s unacceptable,” he said.

City cops have recovered 25 firearms in the last 30 days, Limon said. Still, combating violence is something we need to look at more comprehensively,” using local, federal and state resources more effectively. He offered no specifics on how that might work.

We need to look at whether or not we have a system in place to hold people accountable,” Limon said.

Police asked that anyone with information about either killing call the Major Crimes Unit at 203 – 946-6304.

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