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Raviteja Koyyada, an aspiring computer scientist, was shot and killed while delivering Chinese food.
Moments before his murder, 26-year-old delivery driver Raviteja Koyyada placed a paper bag containing Chinese food on the front porch of a Shepard Street home.
But that delivery order wasn’t actually called in from that house.
The call came from an IP address down the block — from the home of the 21-year-old woman who allegedly stole Koyyada’s car on Jan. 19 and shot him in the process, driving away as he bled and stumbled.
Police convened a press conference on Friday announcing that they had arrested the woman on charges of felony murder, murder, criminal possession of a firearm, and carrying a pistol without a permit.
Koyyada was an immigrant from India living in Hamden. He worked as a food delivery driver for the Dixwell Avenue restaurant China Wok. He’d just received a master’s degree in computer science from Sacred Heart University and was searching for a job in the technology field.
“He was the only [financial] support for his family,” said one of his former roommates, who asked not to be named or photographed. “He was always thinking about his family.”
Assistant Chief David Zannelli read aloud from a letter from Koyyada’s brother that “Raviteja was known for his kindness and generosity.” The brother asked that “no leniency is granted” to the perpetrator, as “his life was taken from us.”
According to the arrest warrant application, Detective Larnell Jackson led the effort to reconstruct what happened using video footage from home security systems alongside interviews, a DNA swab from the firearm, and phone and internet records.
A video and audio recording from one Shepard Street house captured someone stating “Give me your phone, bitch” after Koyyada made the delivery.
Immediately after, according to the warrant application, the video shows someone darting to Koyyada’s car, which had been double-parked outside the house. The individual entered the car and sat in the driver’s seat. Koyyada followed them, opening up the passenger door of the car. A gunshot rang out. Koyyada fell out of the car. He attempted to stand up, but was not able to. The suspect managed to drive away with the vehicle; it was found later that day parked on Munson Street.
Police sought to find out who had placed the delivery order at China Wok leading Koyyada to Shepard Street. They found out that it was a Voice Over Internet Phone number created online on Jan. 19, the day of the shooting. The IP address used to create the account led police to the home of the 21-year-old, who alongside another granddaughter lived there with her grandmother. The grandmother identified the 21-year-old in surveillance footage.
According to the arrest warrant application, police found a gun inside the house that was allegedly linked to Koyyada’s shooting through a ballistic analysis as well as to the 21-year-old through DNA evidence.
The motivations for the shooting remain unclear. Police Chief Karl Jacobson said it’s possible that the shooter “panicked” in the middle of the robbery, prompting her to shoot, but he emphasized that much is unknown.
Mayor Justin Elicker noted that “overwhelmingly, the violence we see in New Haven is people who knew each other and have some sort of dispute.”
“This crime was, frankly, unusual. Raviteja was totally uninvolved in any activity that was negative in the city,” Elicker said. “Twenty-six years old and lost forever.”
Police Chief Jacobson: The motive is unknown.