Could Served Warrant Have Saved Her Life?

A shooting-related warrant sat unserved by West Haven police for over a year — leaving the target free to allegedly shoot and kill his girlfriend Alessia Mesquita in the middle of the street in Fair Haven Heights.

The two incidents of domestic violence — both involving Rashod Newton and Mesquita, separated by 14 months — are spelled out in two separate arrest warrants recently obtained by the Independent.

One warrant was filed by the West Haven Police Department in February 2020, soon after Newton allegedly shot and injured a housemate who was trying to break up an argument between him and Mesquita while the housemate’s children were at home.

The other was filed by the New Haven Police Department in March 2021, soon after Newton allegedly shot and killed Mesquita in front of their 1‑year-old child at Lenox and Clifton Streets.

The murder brought to public attention a rise in domestic violence during the pandemic.

The two warrants not only provide new details on a relationship that Mesquita’s mother previously told the Independent was clouded by Newton’s abuse of her late 28-year-old daughter.

They also shine a light on a painfully familiar pattern of escalating violence against people trapped in abusive relationships.

And they raise questions about the types of unserved warrants police ought to prioritize when navigating an ever-expanding universe of potential arrests. A truly dangerous person can remain at large because his warrant is buried in an avalanche of unserved warrants, according to criminal-justice expert Mike Lawlor.

Newton, a 28-year-old Wallingford resident, has pleaded not guilty to all four charges stemming from the West Haven incident — including first-degree assault, criminal possession of a firearm, risk of injury to a child, and use of a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission.

He has also pleaded not guilty to two of the three charges stemming from the New Haven incident — including criminal possession of a firearm and risk of injury to a minor.

The only New Haven charge he has not yet entered a plea for is the felony count of murder. According to a supplemental report included in the New Haven warrant, Newton did confess to police that he ​“snapped” and ​“immediately opened fire” after arguing with Mesquita in Fair Haven Heights in March. He also reportedly told police after the incident that he planned to kill himself.

According to the state’s online criminal court database, Newton is being detained on a $250,000 bond for the West Haven charges and on a $3 million bond for the New Haven charges. He is being represented in the former case by Senior Assistant Public Defender Kenneth Bunker, and in the latter case by the Hamden-based law firm of Christopher Duby.

Independent of these two cases, Newton has a criminal history: He was sentenced to a year in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to a third-degree assault charge; another six years in 2016 (suspended after 15 months) on a narcotics charge; five years in 2012 (suspended) on another narcotics charge; and 22 months in 2012 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of carrying a pistol without a permit, according to the state judicial database.

It may never be known whether having served the warrant could have saved Alessia Mesquita’s life. And it’s unclear why the first warrant was not served for 13 months, until after his arrest for the murder.

The West Haven Police Department did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

West Haven Warrant: Domestic Dispute Led To Shooting

The West Haven arrest warrant affidavit was written on Feb. 18, 2020 by West Haven Police Det. Jeffrey Gabianelli. The warrant was signed by a state judge on Feb. 27, 2020.

Here’s what happened, according to Gabianelli’s report.

On Jan. 23, 2020 at around 7 p.m., city officers responded to a report of a person shot at a house on Admiral Street in West Haven.

Upon arriving, two officers found a trail of blood leading to the rear of the building. That’s where they found the male victim, Victor, who was later transported by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital.

Police determined that there were four people involved in the incident at the West Haven house: Victor, Victor’s girlfriend, Mesquita, and Newton. Victor’s girlfriend and Mesquita were roommates who both lived at the Admiral Street house.

At the scene, police learned that Newtown and Mesquita had fled the home after the shooting. They had allegedly taken Victor’s girlfriend’s car without her permission. Police later found that car abandoned on Jewell Street in the Beaver Hills neighborhood of New Haven. Mesquita and Newton were nowhere to be found.

Also at the scene, police found one spent .380 caliber shell casing on the lower landing of the stairway leading up to Mesquita’s attic apartment. They found one live .380 caliber bullet on the floor of the attic bedroom. And they found a bullet hole in the sheetrock wall on the second level landing of the stairway leading up to the attic.

West Haven police pieced together the following sequence of events after interviewing Victor and Victor’s girlfriend.

According to those interviews, the night of the shooting, Victor walked upstairs to Mesquita’s attic apartment to return a video game controller that belonged to her.

While upstairs, he came across Mesquita and Newton arguing.

Mesquita texted Victor’s girlfriend to say that she and Newton ​“were moving furniture and things were falling.” Victor’s girlfriend read that text as ​“an excuse to explain the noise coming from upstairs in an attempt to hide the fact that they were arguing.”

After going back downstairs, Victor heard the arguing between Mesquita and Newton get louder and louder.

So Victor and his girlfriend then both went upstairs to tell Newton he had to leave because of the arguing. They said they wouldn’t allow arguing in the home while their young children were downstairs.

Victor said Newton ​“became confrontational and refused to leave.”

Victor and Newton began to argue. They got closer to each other as the argument heated up.

Victor’s girlfriend thought that Victor and Newtown were going to get into a fight, so she began to direct Victor back downstairs.

When she and Victor were on the second landing of the stairs, she looked up the stairway and saw Newton pointing a handgun at the two of them.

“Look out!” Victor yelled as he moved his girlfriend out of the way.

That’s when Newton allegedly fired the gun and hit Victor in the left arm.

Victor told his girlfriend to get the kids and hide in the basement while he went to get help. Victor said he ran across the street to avoid Newton, and then dialed 911.

While in the basement, Victor’s girlfriend heard Newton and Mesquita head out to the driveway. Victor’s girlfriend said she heard Newton yelling at Mesquita to get into Victor’s girlfriend’s car. She did, and the two fled.

On Jan. 26, Det. Gabianelli called Mesquita on her cellphone and asked for her to sit down for an interview with the West Haven police.

Mesquita reportedly said she would not provide any information to the police regarding Newton or his whereabouts.

Gabianelli responded that he wanted to talk with her because she was present during the entire incident, and he wanted to hear her perspective on how things played out.

Mesquita ultimately agreed to meet up with Gabianelli at the police department the following day. ​“Alessia was also asked if Rashod would speak to the West Haven police regarding this incident,” the detective wrote, ​“and she stated he would not.”

The next day, Mesquita cancelled on the detective, saying that she could not find someone to watch her child. She promised to come in the following day.

Mesquita didn’t show up to the police department that day either. She subsequently stopped taking Gabianelli’s calls.

Lawlor: ​“Presence Of A Gun Changes How You Prioritize”

Mike Lawlor — a former co-chair of the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee, a former state undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning, and a current associate professor who teaches about criminal justice at the University of New Haven— offered a clear take in a conversation Friday on what types of warrants police departments ought to work hardest to serve.

“As you decide which warrants to prioritize, obviously you should start where there’s a clear risk,” he said. ​“When you see stuff with guns, convicted felons, threatening people, shooting off the gun, targeting people. That’s someone who’s a very high risk person.”

Current state law requires police officers who respond to domestic violence situations to ask if the alleged perpetrator has access to a gun. That’s a key question to get an answer on, he said, because a ​“yes” could lead to even worse violence down the road.

Law enforcement professionals ought to pay extra close attention to domestic violence situations where perpetrators have guns, he said, especially in the face of the ​“thousands upon thousands upon thousands of outstanding arrest warrants” that exist across the state.

There were 33,833 total outstanding active warrants across Connecticut in April — which is the most recent month for which statewide active warrant data is available from the state Office of Policy and Management (OPM). That includes 4,436 active rearrest warrants in New Haven (second only to Bridgeport’s 4,534) and 692 in West Haven.

“What you see then is the number of outstanding warrants gets so big that the really serious ones start to get lost in the shuffle,” Lawlor said.

“I think it’s unrealistic to expect the police to go out and find every single one of these people for an outstanding warrant. But on the other hand, it probably would help everybody if the number of these outstanding warrants was culled down quite a bit.”

A failure to appear from 10 years ago when the charge was breach of peace, for example, should perhaps not be left hanging in the judicial system and on a police department’s books, he said.

Warrants that indicate that a previously-convicted felon has access to a gun and is involved in an abusive relationship? Those, he said, should be at the top of the list.

“The presence of a gun changes how you prioritize.”

Especially in light of what Newton allegedly did months later in New Haven.

New Haven Warrant: Domestic Dispute Led To Murder

The New Haven arrest warrant includes a supplemental report written on March 22 of this year by New Haven Police Det. Daniel Conklin, spelling out the police version of the events of that day.

Here’s what happened, according to Conklin’s report.

At around 9:30 a.m. on March 22, city police responded to the area of Lenox Street and Clifton Street for a report of a person shot.

When Conklin arrived, he found out that the victim, Mesquita, had already been declared dead at the scene.

City police investigators canvassed the area, looking for potential witnesses and security cameras.

Det. Matthew Stevens found security footage that had captured the entire incident.

That video showed a grey Toyota Camry traveling north on Lenox Street towards Clifton Street.

As the vehicle approached a three-way intersection, the front seat passenger exited the vehicle with several bags in her hands.

“It appears as if this individual then attempts to open the rear passenger door before the vehicle abruptly pulls off west onto Clifton St. and stops a short distance later,” Conklin wrote.

“The individual then chases the vehicle on foot while yelling something inaudible. The operator of the vehicle then exits the vehicle, extends his arm in an apparent shooting position, and advances on the other individual while six apparent gunshots can be heard. The individual who exited the front passenger seat falls to the ground and does not move. The operator of the vehicle returns to the vehicle then drives off west on Clifton St.”

One witness interviewed later that day told police that he ​“heard numerous gunshots and the sound of an engine revving,” and then saw a grey Toyota Camry speeding east on Clifton. Another witness also later told police he heard a flurry of gunshots, and a Toyota Camry speeding on Clifton.

Police identified Mesquita at the scene based on her driver’s license. A preliminary assessment by a medical examiner revealed she had been shot four times.

Located amongst her belongings at the scene was a baby bottle, baby wipes, and ​“other items associated with a baby or young child.”

Police also found nearby six 9mm fired cartridge casings.

Dets. Steven Cunningham and Paul D’Andrea then went to Mesquita’s mother’s home for an interview.

She said that Newton and Alessia had a one-year-old child. And she described their relationship as ​“tumultuous” sand said ​“they had a history of domestic incidents.”

She said she believed Newton was responsible for Alessia’s death. She added that he had picked Alessia up the night before at around 8 p.m. She also said that Newtown sometimes drives one of his family member’s cars, a grey Toyota Camry.

“While on scene, I was informed that Newton has an active arrest warrant from the West Haven Police Department for Assault 1st,” Conklin wrote in his supplemental report. ​“This warrant stemmed from a 2020 shooting incident in West Haven.”

At around 10:30 that same morning, New Haven Police Sgt. Gary Hammill located a grey Toyota Camry parked in a driveway on Russell Street. The license plate indicated that the car belonged to one of Newton’s family members.

There was a child safety seat in the rear seat of the vehicle.

After another canvass, city police found security camera footage that showed that the car had arrived at Russell Street at around 9:21 a.m. The video showed that, soon thereafter, a man walked from the driveway and towards Eastern Street while carrying a small child in his arms. 

“He’s In There. Don’t Hurt Him”

City detectives then proceeded to the area of East View Terrace Townhomes. They spoke with a property manager, who provided security camera footage showing that same individual and child ​“running through the complex.”

At around 1:30 p.m., city detectives saw two individuals carrying a baby while crossing Eastern Street.

They made contact with those individuals, identified the baby as Mesquita’s child, and took custody of the child.

Det. Jeremy Cordero spoke with one of the people who had been carrying the baby, and ​“found her to be deceptive and dishonest with her answers to his questions.”

Police set up a perimeter around that area of Eastern Street where those two individuals had just walked out with the baby.

Soon thereafter, another individual walked out of that same residence ​“and placed a gun wrapped in a hat on the ground. She then reportedly stated, ​‘He’s in there. Don’t hurt him.’”

Police secured the firearm — a black Springfield XD 9MM — and then ordered Newton out of the house. He eventually left the property with his hands up. Police arrested him on the first-degree assault warrant from West Haven.

The next day, Newton would be arraigned in court on a new set of charges, including murder.

Newton: ​“Snapped” & ​“Immediately Opened Fire”

The day of Newton’s arrest, Dets. Conklin and D’Andrea interviewed him at the city police department at 1 Union Ave. Newton waived his rights and agreed to speak with the detectives.

“Over the course of the interview Newton took responsibility for shooting [Mesquita],” Conklin wrote.

Newton said that he had been arguing with Mesquita while in the car, and that she wanted to get out.

Newton said that as Mesquita was getting out, he told her not to take the child with her.

Newton said that when Mesquita tried to take the baby, he started driving, leaving Mesquita in the road ​“yelling and causing a scene,” in Newton’s words.

“Newton stated that he then ​‘snapped’ and ​‘immediately opened fire.’ Newton stated that he was ​‘just shooting’ and indicated that he did not know how many times he fired. …

“Over the course of the interview, Newton stated that he intended to kill himself. Newton was then escorted back to detention at the New Haven Police Department, they were made aware of his suicidal statements.”

A Familiar Pattern Of Escalating Violence

BHcare Hope Family Justice Center New Haven Site Manager Paola Serrecchia, meanwhile, said that the two most recent warrants against Newton appear to fit a pattern that is all too familiar for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.

“It is very common that people who perpetrate crimes such as murders, that they have either been traumatized themselves as a victim or have perpetrated past domestic violence,” she said.

What should police departments make sure to best protect those victims, even as they try to serve a warrant on the alleged perpetrator?

“Immediately connect them with domestic violence resources like safe homes and resource centers that can provide counseling, sheltering, and safety planning,” she said.

Police officers should also make sure to conduct lethality assessments after a domestic incident in a bid to make sure that what started off as an agreement doesn’t escalate into full-blown violence.

She added that sometimes domestic violence victims are afraid to help police track down a suspect they’re looking to arrest. ​“They’re also the caretakers of their abusers,” Serrecchia said. That can sometimes make it all the more difficult for law enforcement to serve a warrant.

And, she added, just because a warrant wasn’t served doesn’t mean that law enforcement didn’t try to make that arrest.

“If perpetrators know about a warrant for their arrest, they may actually hide.” Sometimes even with the help of their victims.

Serrecchia also praised by the New Haven and West Haven police departments for working closely with the Hope Family Justice Center to protect domestic violence victims and connect them with counseling, shelter, and other social services.