Affidavit Details Fatal Truck-Racing Fight

“You are the fucking guy who was racing in front of my house,” a 25-year-old New Havener allegedly said after confronting a teenager in his truck late at night in Fair Haven this summer. 

“I’m ready to shoot,” he threatened.

He then noticed what would turn out to be a BB gun on the truck’s dashboard.

“Oh so you have a gun,” the man said — soon before pulling the trigger of his own silver handgun and killing the young man behind the wheel.

That fatal altercation is described in a 10-page arrest warrant affidavit written and signed on Monday by New Haven Police Det. Thomas Blaisdell. The Independent obtained a copy of the affidavit on Thursday.

Citing video surveillance records and witness interviews, the affidavit describes in detail what police believe took place in the minutes running up to when someone shot and killed 17-year-old High School in the Community graduate John Tubac on Poplar Street in Fair Haven late at night on July 3.

Earlier this week at a press conference at police headquarters, top city cops announced that they had arrested 25-year-old Fair Havener Kiyon Matheney for that crime. He’s been charged with murder, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a pistol, and carrying a pistol without a permit. He is currently being held on a $2 million bond.

Blaisdell’s affidavit fleshes out claims made by the police chief and assistant chief during that presser about how an argument about truck racing immediately preceded Tubac’s murder. It also provides new details about how Tubac might have had a BB gun on the dashboard of his truck at the time of the shooting, and that he and Matheney might have wrestled over that BB gun soon before Matheney allegedly pulled the trigger of his all-too-real weapon.

During an interview with city cops as described in Blaisdell’s affidavit, Matheney denied having committed the murder. He claimed instead that he was out selling drugs the night of the shooting. He said that he did not shoot the victim, that he was nowhere near the victim’s vehicle, and that he has never possessed a gun. While city cops did not obtain a DNA match for Matheney based on the evidence police have collected in this case, they arrested him based on witness identification, an anonymous tip, and video surveillance that appeared to show him and his car the night of the shooting.

"I'm Fucking Serious. I'm Ready To Shoot"

According to Blaisdell’s affidavit, at around 11:10 p.m. on July 3, police responded to the report of a person shot on Poplar Street.

Upon arriving, officers found a silver Ford F‑150 truck with South Carolina plates. The passenger side door was open and multiple people were trying to pull out of the car an unconscious male who had been shot in his left eye. Police also found what appeared to be a bullet hole in the driver’s side window of the truck.

That shooting victim was Tubac. He was taken by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital and would die from his gunshot wounds four days later.

At the scene of the shooting, a city fire department lieutenant found ​“what appeared to be a black handgun; later determined to be a BB gun” on the passenger side floor of the truck.

During a subsequent witness interview, city cops learned the following:

Earlier on July 3, Tubac had reportedly been driving down Fillmore Street with a fellow passenger when he ​“revved the motor of his pickup truck in front of a group of people.”

He then drove to Poplar Street and parked. He and the passenger had an argument. He took out a BB gun that was inside the center console of the truck and put it on the dashboard.

A short time later, after a ​“tan or silver vehicle” drove past the pickup truck and looked at Tubac, a man — whom cops would later identify as Matheney — arrived on foot at the truck’s driver’s side door.

“You were the guy who was racing in front of my house?” Matheney asked Tubac.

“No, why?” Tubac responded.

“You are the fucking guy, who was racing in front of my house?” the man insisted.

“You said what? You said, I’m the fucking guy? I’m not the fucking guy,” Tubac replied.

“Yea, you are the fucking guy, who was racing in front of my house. This is the truck,” Matheney said.

As Tubac sat up, the man walked backward and touched his right pocket. ​“I’m ready to shoot,” he said.

“You ready to what? To shoot?” Tubac asked.

“Yea, I’m fucking serious. I’m ready to shoot,” the man said.

“There is no way,” Tubac replied.

Then the man saw the BB gun on Tubac’s dashboard. ​“Oh so you have a gun,” the man said.

“It’s a fake gun,” the passenger pleaded. Tubac also said that the BB gun was fake.

Tubac and Matheney then ​“had an altercation with the BB gun briefly,” according to Blaisdell’s affidavit. The man then shot and fatally wounded Tubac, and fled the scene on foot.

Suspect: "Riding Around Selling Drugs" Night Of Shooting

After witness interviews and reviewing video surveillance that appeared to identify Matheney as the likely shooter, Sgt. Alvarado and Det. Jackson interviewed Matheney at police headquarters on July 16.

Matheney told the cops that he had been at a family member’s house on Fillmore Street on July 3. Then, at around 10 p.m., he left the house and ​“went nowhere in particular.”

“Matheney stated that throughout the night he was riding around selling drugs and returned ​‘home’ approximately 2:00 am — 3:00 am” on July 4, Blaisdell wrote. ​“Matheney stated he sells ​‘weed’ and ​‘crack’ and that’s how he makes a living.”

Det. Jackson asked Matheney if he was aware of what happened on July 3. Matheney replied, ​“As far as I’m concerned, somebody got shot.”

He said he knew there was a homicide ​“but did not know anything about it.”

“Matheney stated he heard what he believed to be gunshots or fireworks in the area on the night of the incident,” Blaisdell wrote, ​“Matheney denied shooting the victim, denied running from the scene, seeing anyone shoot the victim or being near the victim’s vehicle. Matheney also admitted he possibly did drive the wrong way on Fillmore Street on the night of the homicide, but denied following the victim’s truck or wearing a facemask.

“As questions began to intensify relating to the facts gathered from the eye witness and surveillance footage, Matheney became increasingly agitated and subsequently ended the interview abruptly.”

On Aug. 3, Matheney was arrested by city detectives for an active arrest warrant for unrelated drug charges. After getting a search warrant for Matheney’s phone, Det. Elizabeth White found that Matheney had tried to sell his car the day after the homicide, and that he changed his cell phone number three days after the shooting.

And on Sept. 14, the state forensic laboratory let city cops know ​“that there were no positive associations linked from the evidentiary results submitted to the laboratory and the known DNA swabs from Matheney.”

Because Matheney has a past felony conviction on his record, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Blaisdell concluded his affidavit by writing that he believes there is probably cause to charge Matheney with murder, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a pistol, and carrying a pistol without a permit.