Thomas Breen photo
Chief Dominguez (right) Friday with the mayor and Whitaker's family.
City police have arrested a 23-year-old man from the Hill for allegedly shooting and killing Richard Whitaker, Jr. on Columbus Avenue in June 2021.
Mayor Justin Elicker and Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez announced that arrest Friday afternoon during a press conference held on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.
Standing alongside Whitaker’s father, Dominguez said that city police arrested a 23-year-old man from the Hill on Feb 24. Whitaker was 21 years old when he died.
The suspect in the case has been charged with one felony count of murder and one felony count of criminal possession of a pistol, and is currently being held on a $2 million bond.
Dayshon Smith and Richard Whitaker at Richard’s Eli Whitney graduation.
The case itself dates back to June 15, 2021, when police responded to 460 Columbus Ave. at 8:22 p.m. for a ShotSpotter alert. Multiple 911 callers later reported that a gunshot victim, Whitaker, had run into a residence on Thorn Street.
Emergency responders found Whitaker inside of the residence and suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. He was transported to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he later died.
Dominguez and Elicker heralded the “eight-month in-depth investigation” led by Det. Christian Bruckhart that culminated in the 23-year-old man’s arrest. They offered few other details on how the investigation played out and what break in the case may have led to the arrest. The arrest warrant affidavit in this case, meanwhile, has been sealed for now.
“We are committed to solving these murders,” Elicker said Friday. “We will do the work we need to. It will take time.”
Click here for a previous story about Whitaker’s murder, including an interview with Whitaker’s father, Richard Whitaker Sr.
Whitaker had studied plumbing at Eli Whitney Technical High School. He left behind a two-year-old daughter.
Whitaker’s brother, boxing champion Dayshon Smith, was also shot dead on the streets of the Hill back in August 2020. Whitaker was standing next to Dayshon when he was shot, according to several relatives.
During Friday’s press conference, Dominguez said that police do not believe at this time that Smith’s and Whitaker’s shooting deaths were related.
Friday’s murder arrest announcement comes roughly a month after police made another murder arrest, of Michael Holmes for allegedly shooting and killing Curtis McCray Jr. in Newhallville in October 2019.
17 Nonfatal Shootings, 0 Homicides So Far This Year
Also on Friday, Elicker said that the NHPD proposes to promote 10 new detectives. He said those promotions will be heard by police commission next week.
Dominguez stated that the city has seen 17 nonfatal shootings so far this year. That’s up from 15 at this time last year.
The city has seen no homicides so far this year. That’s down from seven homicides at this time last year.
The city has seized 40 guns and made 34 gun-related arrests so far this year.
That’s in comparison to 24 guns seized and 27 gun-related arrests at this time last year.
And at 5: 28 a.m. Friday, Dominguez said, city police received a 911 call regarding a person shot on Rosette Street between Howard Avenue and Dewitt Street in the Hill.
Responding officers found a 41-year-old New Haven man who had been struck by gunfire. An ambulance took the victim to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he is in stable condition.
Dominguez said that the investigation into what Friday morning’s Rosette Street shooting is still “very active,” and that “police are still out in the area doing multiple canvasses and processing the scene.”
Excellent work by Detective Bruckhart in the solving of Whittaker homicide.
That his family suffered 2 homicides is terrible and soul killing. Prayers to the family. For the suspect nothing.
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