“Transformed” Prisoners Seek Return Home

With support from the community, two New Haveners who have spent decades behind bars for homicide appealed Tuesday afternoon for early releases in return for good behavior.

The men, 48-year-old Ray Boyd and 40-year-old Troy Little, were represented by local attorney Alexander Taubes in separate online hearings.

Both cases went before Superior Court Judge Jon Alander, who said he plans to issue written decisions within two weeks or sooner. (Update: On Wednesday the judge issued a decision in the Boyd case lowering his sentence by two years, thus making him immediately eligible for consideration for parole.)

Troy Little

Troy Little shot and killed Kishawn Council on August 17, 2000. Little was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and unlawful carrying of a pistol without a permit and, in 2003, sentenced to 32 years.

In or around 2018, a judge knocked the two years for unlawful carrying of a pistol without a permit off of Little’s original 32-year sentence.

While in prison, Little obtained his GED, earned six college credits from Quinnipiac University, and spent time as a medical unit outpatient worker. Through a program called ​“Turning Point,” Little has addressed groups of high school and college students about his experiences in incarceration.

Little is one of a few incarcerated individuals who train dogs for disabled veterans through America’s VetDogs. He trained a black labrador named Hooper (pictured) who is now a working service dog for a disabled veteran.

“I’ve done everything in here possible to better myself ​‚and every day is a battle. I did every program available to me,” Little said at the hearing.

Little continued to complete the Department of Correction’s Anger Management program, the Fatherhood Program, and the Skills of Socialization Program at Osborn Correctional Institution. He also participated in a program called VOICES which is dedicated to teaching offenders about the impact of their actions on victims and a program on decision-making and conflict resolution skills called THRESHOLDS.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Tyrese Sullivan, who mentors at-risk youth in New Haven, spoke in support of Little’s early release. 

Sullivan grew up with Little; the two played on the Hillhouse basketball team together in high school. ​“Troy has always been a young man with great potential. Over the years I’ve watched him grow. He’s remorseful and he wants to get back to his community,” Sullivan said.

He said Little could have a ​“major impact” on youth in the city to help prevent them from making poor choices.

Quienton ​“Maurice” Shaw has known Little for over 30 years. Shaw grew up in New Haven and now lives in Maryland working as a senior analyst for a communications company.

“We both grew up in situations where we made some bad choices,” Shaw told the judge. He and Little have stayed connected through phone calls and letters.

Shaw also spoke about Little’s personal and emotional growth, especially as he’s witnessed Little’s passion for training Hooper: ​“Just talking to him he is able to show emotions that we would never have shown years ago.”

A slew of other friends and family members, including Little’s parents, submitted statements and spoke in favor of his early release.

When it was his turn to speak before the court, Little wiped away tears and recounted his journey towards rehabilitation.

At first, ​“I was angry, and I blamed everyone else for me being in prison,” he said. Then one day, his son told his teacher he wanted to do something bad so he could be sent to prison and be with Little.

That’s when Little hit a turning point, he said. He realized he needed to set a better example for his son. Little told the court that he wants to see his son practice boxing, spend time with his aging family members, escort his mother to church, and watch basketball with his father.

“I just want to do the simple things in life that won’t cost me anything but freedom.”

Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Lisa D’Angelo reviewed the facts of the case and a four-year sentence for sale of narcotics and failure to appear that predated the 2000 manslaughter sentencing.

D’Angelo said there was no one registered with the Office of Victim Services for this case but attempted to contact the victim’s mother. She said she tried four different phone numbers to reach the mother, which were all unsuccessful.

A few days ago D’Angelo received another binder with the entire transcript from the sentencing hearing. She noticed that in addition to the victim’s mother, the victim’s father, sister, and another member of the family spoke at the sentencing. D’Angelo said she has not yet had the opportunity to find contact information for these family members. 

Judge Alander ultimately decided to give the state two weeks to reach out to those additional family members so they may take a position on the sentence modification request. After the two weeks are up, Alander will issue a written decision.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re rehabilitated,” Alander said to Little. Alander said he must balance the seriousness of the crime, defending circumstances, and impact on the victim and the victim’s family.

Ray Boyd

When he was 17, Boyd shot and killed Tony O’Neal near the intersection of Howard Avenue and Putnam Street. Boyd was sentenced to 50 years on Nov.r 20, 1992.

In prison, Boyd co-founded a program called Skills of Socialization (SOS) to reduce recidivism and became a leading mentor in the TRUE program.

The Department of Correction now classifies him as a ​“Level 2” or low danger risk offender, but Boyd elected to voluntarily live in a ​“Level 4” correctional facility so he could still participate in the TRUE Program.

Boyd earned his GED in 1996 and completed educational programs in commercial cleaning, food service, and culinary education. He received a diploma with the highest honors from the Stratford Career Institute for a course in sex and drug counseling in 2006 and he took college courses in real estate offered at Osborn Correctional through Asnuntuck Community College in 2013.

Soon after Gov. Ned Lamont took office, in February 2019, Boyd took him on a tour of the TRUE program. Boyd also walked the governor through a 10-point reentry syllabus and course curriculum that and other mentors developed.

Boyd worked in kitchens across his facilities for 22 years. Just this week self-published a book entitled ​“The Model Inmate.” He said the book is filled with his reflections on past mistakes in and outside of prison.

“It’s something I put out as a preventative measure hoping someone on the outside would read it and gain something from it.”

Jackie James, a former city alder and Democratic town chair, spoke at Boyd’s hearing to support his early release. She and Boyd were best friends growing up in the Hill neighborhood.

“This was a very dangerous and scary time for many of us growing up in the Hill. Our community was infested with an overwhelming amount of crime, unemployment, substance abuse, blight, and poverty. The divergent needs of our community were often unmet and there was an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and apathy.”

When they were young, James said, she and Boyd often spent time talking about their hopes and dreams and listening to music. But as the years progressed, she grew more concerned about ​“negative influences” in Boyd’s life.

“His negative influences coupled with residing in such a violent and impoverished community appeared to overpower Ray’s otherwise good character and led to the crime that caused his incarceration,” said James.

Throughout his sentence, James and Boyd have remained in close contact with letters, phone calls, and in-person visits. She said Boyd often tells her about his mentorship and shares his deep remorse.

“Ray genuinely cares and has an immeasurable amount of respect for human life. He truly believes that he needs to serve others in order to atone for his prior conduct.”

James said Boyd would be met with a large support system to secure him with stable housing and employment upon his return home.

Boyd has currently served 29 years out of his 50-year sentence. If the six years of sentence modification he pushed for in the hearing are taken off that would of course leave him with 15 years remaining.

Additionally, thanks to Public Act (PA) 15 – 84 effective October 2015, someone who was sentenced to more than 50 years as a juvenile is eligible for parole after serving 30 years. For Boyd, this means he could be up for parole in October 2022.

So why push for six years off a 21-year remaining sentence instead of waiting for the potential parole in a little over a year?

Because, according to Taubes, Boyd should actually be up for immediate release through Statutory Good Time sentence reductions.

In a case currently pending before the Connecticut Supreme Court, Taubes argues that when the General Assembly passed Public Act 15 – 84, the state Supreme Court and the Appellate Court had already determined that a prisoner’s accumulation of good time credit is a ​“commutation of sentence.”

“Because Ray had been so exemplary with his conduct over the years he has earned close to 14 maybe 15 years of time off his sentence,” Taubes said in an interview after the hearing.

“The whole purpose of the bill was to give people like Ray a second chance, but then the DOC and the Parole Board ignore the good behavior guys like Ray have done in deciding when they’re eligible.”

In their case before the state Supreme Court, Boyd won the support of State Sen. Gary Winfield. Winfield, with Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, filed an amici curiae brief on the issue in January.

“The parole board chooses to ignore the good time that people have earned when calculating when to give people their hearings. Even though as we argued, that’s not the law, and the person who wrote the law agrees with us,” Taubes said.

Winfield too spoke in favor of Boyd’s release at the hearing Tuesday.

“He’s transformed his life. And more than that, the transformations in his life have had impact on others who are in the system.”

If the six years off discussed at the hearing are granted, plus the 15 years of reduced time Taubes said Boyd earned through good behavior, Boyd would be immediately released.

In her review, prosecutor D’Angelo pointed out that Judge Patrick Clifford denied a motion For modification of sentence for Boyd that was filed last May. In that denial, Clifford highlighted the potential for parole that Boyd could access in 2022: ​“I fully support the change in law that allows a second look at sentences of juveniles who are sentenced to the equivalent of life like Mr. Boyd was. Instead of being released in his late sixties he has the opportunity to earn parole in a little over two years. He appears to be a good candidate for parole based on the positive things he has done over the last 28 years in prison.”

In his statement and at the hearing, both Clifford and D’Angelo noted that the victim’s mother objected to a sentence modification two years ago and has not responded since.

There was no hearing held for the motion for modification of sentence last year. According to Taubes, Boyd could have requested a hearing with the chance to speak and allow witnesses, but chose not to because the courts were so clogged. ​“Ray agreed to not have the hearing and let the judge take in all the papers just to save everybody time and save everybody resources. He’s a very selfless person.”

Taubes added, ​“I think that the judges need to see in flesh and blood how there are two sides to every story. To see it with your own eyes and ears is different from seeing it on a page.”

Even if Boyd waits for that parole hearing Clifford mentioned Boyd is owed in 2022, Taubes said Boyd might have to wait even longer. ​“Let’s not forget, parole’s not guaranteed, he’s eligible for parole in 2022 and the date that they have is a provisional date that could be changed at any time by the parole board.”

Taubes also cited a number of Boyd’s pre-existing conditions and co-morbidities in arguing for his early release. Each day Boyd takes Albuterol for asthma, Metformin for diabetes, and medication for high cholesterol. Boyd also suffers from high blood pressure and an autoimmune disease called Immune Thrombocytopenia (ITP).

In December 2020, Boyd contracted Covid-19 and was hospitalized in critical condition for nine days.

In the Boyd memorandum for the hearing, Taubes noted that ​“although none of these conditions is serious enough to be classified terminal or physically debilitating enough at this time to warrant a compassionate release, the continued debilitation of the defendant’s health weighs in favor of the modest reduction requested by this motion.”

After previously denying two requests to release Rabbi Daniel Greer on an appeal bond over Covid-19 health risks he faced in prison, Judge Alander issued a temporary order of release in April. Alander ordered Greer be sent back to the Cheshire Correctional Institution 97 days later.

“Why should someone like [Boyd] have to wait when he could save lives out here?” Taubes asked. ​“Why make him wait until 2022 or 2023 when he’s shown such exemplary behavior helping others, when his life is at risk due to his health conditions, when he has such community support available for him now which may not be available for him a year or a year and a half from now?

“We’ve seen how much things can change. Right now this summer in New Haven we have a crisis with the youth committing violent crimes on our streets. Ray is probably one of the best-situated people in the state of Connecticut to do something about that by mentoring youth as he has in the prison. Young people look up to him on the streets and inside,” Taubes said.

Boyd said that when he is released he is interested in working for CT Violence Intervention Project on Ashmun Street to reach at-risk youth in his old neighborhood.

“The majority of the men who are out there now part of the organization aren’t from my neighborhood. I think that I could be a representative for this organization in my neighborhood to assist with curbing some of the violence there,” he said.

Wednesday afternoon, Judge Alander issued a sentence reduction by two years, bringing Boyd’s sentence to 48 years. PA 15 – 84 allows those sentenced to less than 50 years as juveniles to be eligible for parole once they have served 60 percent of their sentence. For Boyd, a now 48-year sentence would require completing 28.8 years in prison.

Since he has served 29 years, that makes Boyd immediately eligible for parole consideration.