Paul Bass Photo
Alba Gonzalez, victim’s sister, speaks at Tuesday afternoon’s press conference. Assistant Chief Thaddeus Reddish and Chief Dean Esserman flank her.
(Updated) Ruben Gonzalez never made it home from work July 31. Cops Tuesday announced that they’ve at least tracked down the man who shot him.
The police arrested two men Monday in connection with the murder.
They charged the men, who are 27 and 28 years old, with first-degree felony murder, among other offenses.
The department has now made arrests in 13 homicide cases this year, including six of the 11 homicides that have occurred this year.
Gonzalez’s murder took place July 31 at 3:25 a.m. on Atwater Street in Fair Haven.
Gonzalez, who was 27, was driving home from working the night shift at a job in Newington. He was dropping a close lifelong friend and coworker at his house on Atwater . The two men worked at a food distributorship, loading pallets for morning deliveries.
The two men sat in the car of the driveway of the coworker’s home. The coworker was consoling Gonzalez over the recent loss of an aunt, according to Assistant Police Chief Archie Generoso.
Three men on bicycles approached the car and ordered them out, onto the ground. The three men searched the victims’ pockets, then the car, stealing money and two cell phones.
The three assailants started fleeing when Gonzalez made a remark to one of them. He allegedly told one of the men that he could identify his face. The man turned around and fired his gun, hitting Gonzalez. Gonzalez was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Gonzalez was a law-abiding hard-working man, not a “player” in New Haven’s crime world, according to the police.
His sister, Alba Gonzalez (pictured at the top of the story), spoke at a press conference at police headquarters late Tuesday afternoon. She said “no words” can describe “how grateful” the family feels toward the police.
“We won’t have him back,” Gonzalez said of her brother. “But we have some kind of relief that they’re going to be in jail.”
The first break in the case came from forensic evidence gathered at the scene, according to Sgt. Tony Reyes, head of the police department’s major crimes unit. Detectives followed the trail to the two suspects arrested Monday. The third suspect remains at large. Reyes didn’t want to be more specific about the evidence at this point.
Detective Nicole Natale headed up the investigation with the assistance of Detective David Zaweski. Detective Frank Melendez of the Bureau of Identification played a key role. West Haven’s police department helped analyze the forensic evidence.
Grand Avenue merchants provided video that showed the men who matched a description of the assailant riding around the neighborhood earlier that evening, according to Generoso.
The Yale Child Study Center has been working with the children of both Gonzalez and his friend/co-worker.
“This was good old-fashioned police work,” Generoso said. “These guys ran down leads. Our forensics people did incredible jobs.”