Ko Lyn Cheang photo
Police Chief Otoniel Reyes speaks at the press conference. To his right is the family of Ricky Newton.
Patricia Newton lost her son. But at least the person who killed him may now face the consequences.
The police have a 44-year-old West Haven man who they believe committed the July 10 murder of Newton’s son, 36-year-old New Havener Ricky Newton, at 192 Rosette St. near Wilson Street in the Hill.
The arrest took place Friday in Maryland. Patricia Newton (pictured) joined police brass at 1 Union Ave. Monday for a press conference about the arrest.
“I would like to thank the New Haven Detective Bureau and Police Department for giving me a little closure and finding the young man who killed my son,” she said.
Detectives were able to develop information on the suspect quickly due to the cooperation of community members, Police Chief Otoniel Reyes said at the press conference on Monday afternoon. They identified him using surveillance footage as the person responsible for the fatal shooting of Newton.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the suspect eluded capture from local officers and marshals in New Haven and left the state to travel south.
Maryland state police apprehended the suspect in the town of Princess Anne on Friday, and took him into custody during the serving of a search and seizure warrant.
The suspect has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a pistol. He will be held on a $1 million bond. He was known to the city’s police department prior to the murder and is a convicted felon.
The New Haven police are working with the State Attorney’s Office to extradite the suspect to Connecticut, although they did not specify when the extradition would occur.
Newton was one of the victims of the two homicides and thirteen shootings that occurred in New Haven during the first two weeks of July, which saw the most brutal stretch of street violence in the city since 2011. The number of shootings has dropped significantly since then.
Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson gave an overview of the actions the police department has taken over the past couple of weeks to address the recent uptick in gun violence, and announced that there have been four shootings and no homicides from 15 to 27 July.
The department has developed a deployment plan to place patrol officers and detectives in critical neighborhoods and identify people who may be involved in violent crime.
As of July 1, the police department had carried out 24 custom notifications, which are in-person meetings with people “asking them to stop the violence, telling them we want them safe and out of jail.” Police officers have seized ten guns in the past three weeks, placed 14 GPS monitors on people under probation and parole, and got four arrest warrants signed by the State Attorney’s office, including this one.
“We’re not going to address gun violence in the long term through policing,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “We’re going to address it through investing in communities that have not had the kind of support and resources needed to reduce systemic racism, and give people opportunities. No one is born to be violent.”
Watch the full press conference above.
Thank you to the NHPD for working with the community, doing in person custom visits to at-risk community members to ask them to stand down and help stop the violence, and trying a new more compassionate proactive approach to reducing violence. If the police can work with local community leaders and influencers to help engage them in leading the change to stop the violence, and the city can hire conflict resolution specialists to train social workers and community leaders and influencers to assist in community policing, we could change the way the police and the community interact and assist each other to deter crime and stop violence before it happens.