Eight Days, Four Homicides

A 30-year-old New Havener named Kentel Robinson became the third New Haven homicide victim of a year that is barely a week old.

Robinson died in the hospital Saturday due to injuries suffered when someone shot him repeatedly on Chapel Street between Beers and Orchard Streets last Wednesday around 9:32 p.m.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson said detectives have strong leads in investigating the incident, which they believe was a targeted rather than random incident.

Shafiq Abdussabur said Robinson worked for a few years as a school janitor for his Eco-urban company, which contracted with the Board of Ed. Abdussabur was in touch with Robinson the day before the shooting trying to help him find housing and a job.

“He was trying to struggle through life living in New Haven. That’s just a fact,” Abdussabur said. ​“At his best he was a bright spirit.”

Robinson’s death took place one day after a 41-year-old West Haven man named Charles Miller was shot and killed on Pond Lily Avenue Friday night. Chief Jacobson said Monday that police have strong leads in the Miller homicide as well, which also appears to have been targeted.

Robinson’s death also comes less than a week after a 23-year-old New Haven man named Dontae Myers was shot dead near Poplar Street and Grand Avenue in Fair Haven on the first day of 2023. And it comes just over a week after a 27-year-old Hartford man named Ernie Negroni-Feliciano died on Dec. 31 from gunshot wounds he suffered on Saltonstall Avenue in Fair Haven the day before. Altogether the city has seen seven homicides in six weeks after a year in which shooting deaths had dropped 46 percent compared to the year before.

Jacboson said police believe all seven incidents were unconnected; they did not involve retaliation for other incidents and were not random.

He said the police are working hard to stem the recent upsurge in gun violence. Since Jan. 1 they’ve succeeded in taking nine illegal guns off the street, he said.

Police ask that any witnesses who have not yet spoken with them about the recent incidents contact the NHPD Investigative Services Division at 203 – 946‑6304. Callers may remain anonymous or submit tips anonymously by calling 1 – 866 – 888-TIPS(8477), or email to ECIC@newhavenct.gov.