Angela Hester-McCray: "Justice, as far as I'm concerned, has been served."
City police have obtained an arrest warrant for the man who allegedly shot and killed Curtis McCray Jr. two-and-a-half years ago — and, thanks to a new interagency partnership focusing on unsolved homicides from 2020 and 2021, they hope to have more murder arrests coming soon.
Mayor Justin Elicker, Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez, and Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson made that announcement Thursday afternoon during a press conference on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.
Joined by McCray’s mom Angela as well as by a half-dozen local law enforcement officials — including Det. Steve Cunningham, lead investigator on this case — the mayor and police brass said that city police have obtained an arrest warrant for a 37-year-old man.
That man, who is currently incarcerated in state prison on an unrelated charge, allegedly shot and killed McCray, a 35-year-old Hamden man, on Shelton Avenue in the early morning of Oct. 26, 2019.
“I’m so glad that justice, as far as I’m concerned, has been served,” said Angela Hester-McCray, a retired former New Haven Public Schools teacher and math coach who recently moved back to the city from Georgia.
What kind of person was McCray?
“My son was a very loving person. He never met a stranger,” his mom said. “If he had $20, he was gonna give it to somebody.’
Thomas Breen photo
Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez.
Local and state law enforcement officials on Thursday, including Det. Steve Cunningham (left).
While declining to go into details about the “pending” case, Cunningham and Dominguez praised the community for coming forward to help police find the person who allegedly murdered McCray.
Cunningham “conducted numerous interviews, search warrants, and maintained contact” with the family and the surrounding community throughout the past two-plus years, Dominguez said.
Chief Jacobson thanked McCray’s mom and his widow for attending Thursday’s presser, and for their patience as police worked to solve the case. “Sometimes it takes longer than we’d like,” he said.
Interagency Focus On 2020-21 Murders
Asst. Chief Jacobson.
Jacobson announced that city police have launched a new regular weekly meet-up with the state’s attorney’s office and federal law enforcement officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
That newly weekly meeting is focused entirely on trying to solve unsolved homicides from 2020 and 2021.
Of the 25 homicides that took place in New Haven last year, city police have made arrests in only three cases. Of the 20 homicides that took place in New Haven in 2020, city police have made arrests in six of those cases.
“Everybody’s in different silos,” Jacobson said. This new weekly meet-up means that different local, state and federal law enforcement agencies can focus their collective attention squarely on homicides from the last two years.
How does this type of regular meet-up help solve unsolved murders? “Information,” Jacobson said. “That exchange of information is priceless.”
Elicker, Dominguez and Jacobson claimed that the city’s recently approved plans to buy and install 500 new surveillance cameras around town, as well as the department’s plans to promote a new group of detectives as early as this month, should also help with solving unsolved homicide cases.