Boy, 14, Shot Dead; Had Hoop Dreams

Tyshaun ​“TyTy” Hargrove’s coach was hoping to get him back on the court to pursue his basketball dreams. A gunshot ended all that.

Hargrove was shot dead in Fair Haven Wednesday night.

The shooting took place on Chatham Street between Rowe and Ferry Streets at 10:51 p.m., according to police spokesperson Officer Scott Shumway.

After ​“multiple” 911 calls, police showed up to find the boy in the parking lot of an apartment complex, where a large gathering of people had taken place. He was ​“suffering from gunshot wounds,” Shumway reported. An ambulance crew took the victim to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Hargrove was about to turn 15 on Sept. 11. He was about to enter Hillhouse High School as a freshman, according to Principal Glen Worthy, who once again Thursday found himself dealing with tragic gunfire afflicting his school community.

“We’ve got to come together to figure out how to get this violence under control,” Worthy said. ​“These are young kids.”

Hargrove leaves behind a 1‑year-old child.

He also leaves behind dreams of becoming a basketball player, according to Robert McKiver, who coached Hargrove on the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Elm City Elite team. Hargrove played point guard.

McKiver said he coached Hargrove for two years. Then Covid-19 hit. Hargrove didn’t come back when the team resumed playing.

“He lost his way a little bit. We were all hoping he would turn it around,” McKiver said Thursday. ​“This is a shock to all of us.”

“He really loved the game,” the coach noted. ​“He really wanted to be a basketball player. He was a loving kid. This is a sad day for a lot of people.”

At a press conference at police headquarters Thursday afternoon, Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez said the investigation is at its initial stages, so she had little definitive to add to the basic facts released so far. She said investigators are going through video surveillance footage from the evening as well as canvassing the neighborhood to speak with people. The incident appears to have been ​“isolated,” she said.

Hargrove’s killing was New Haven’s 19th homicide so far this year.

In January, Alfreda Youmans, 50, and Jeffrey Dotson, 42, were found dead by the police inside a Winthrop Avenue apartment, Jorge Osorio-Caballero, 32, was shot and killed in Fair Haven, Marquis Winfrey, 31, was shot and killed in Newhallville, and Joseph Vincent Mattei, 28, was shot and killed in the Hill. Someone shot Kevin Jiang, 26, to death in Goatville on Feb. 6. Angel Rodriguez, 21, was shot to death in Fair Haven in mid-February, his body dumped by the Mill River in East Rock. Dwaneia Alexandria Turner, 28, was shot to death in the Hill on March 16 during an argument with two other women.

On March 26, Alessia Mesquita was shot dead in Fair Haven. Then 20-year-old Mariyah Inthirath was killed Saturday, May 15, on Sheffield Avenue and Jack Hopeton was killed near Orchard and George on Tuesday, May 18. On May 19, Tashawn Brown was shot dead across from Edgewood Park. On May 26, 34-year-old Adrian Barwise was shot inside a Sherman Parkway house during an apparent argument over a game, according to police. Miguel Ramos, 37, was shot dead on Springside Avenue on June 6.

Richard Whitaker Jr. was shot to death on Columbus Avenue in the Hill on June 15 — after having watched a gunman shoot his brother dead in the neighborhood the previous August.

Ciera Jones, 22, was shot outside her house on Truman Street on July 5 and died days later in the hospital.

On July 10, someone shot and killed Kevan Bonilla, 20, on Lombard Street in Fair Haven. Kevin Mills, 33, was shot to death on Dixwell Avenue on Aug. 10.