nothin “Lala” Shot Dead On Front Porch | New Haven Independent

Lala” Shot Dead On Front Porch

Paul Bass Photo

The shooting scene.

Family Photo

Francesca “Lala” Ratchford.

The sound of bullets firing woke Diane Ratchford to a nightmare at 4 a.m. Tuesday.

She was sleeping good” inside her third-floor apartment at 848 Congress Ave. next door to California Market when I heard four shots.”

Ratchford thought the sound had come from a block over on Columbus Avenue.

Awake, she went to the bathroom, then headed downstairs.

Don’t come downstairs!” called up her 21-year-old son Malcolm.

Ratchford ignored his urging. She came outside to find her 25-year-old daughter Francesca Lala” Ratchford lying shot to death on the front porch.

Visibly shaken, Ratchford (who asked not to be photographed) described the scene hours later from within yellow tape behind the building as the police department’s Bureau of Identification arrived to collect evidence.

Police did not immediately report having any suspects, though witnesses told them they saw a dreadlocked man fleeing the scene, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman. (Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 203 – 946-6304.)

Diane Ratchford lived in the apartment with Lala, Malcolm, a 24-year-old daughter Shurell, and Lala’s 6‑year-old son Eryion.

She loved to have fun. She was a good mother,” Ratchford said of Lala, who attended Wilbur Cross High School.

Out on Congress Avenue, neighbors sat on stoops and discussed the tragedy.

Nobody should be out on the porch at four in the morning,” suggested one neighbor.

Nothing good happens after 12” midnight,” remarked Gregg Stroud (pictured). But she should be able to sit on her porch. It’s hot.”

Stroud, who lives a block away on Davenport Avenue, slept through the gunshots. He learned what happened as he prepared for a job interview at Walmart Tuesday morning. He said he would speak with Lala sometimes on the street. She was a nice woman, he said.

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