Contributed Photo
Antonio Jones with his slain sister's daughter Alaia.
“Mom,” Antonio Jones told his mother Sandy Mesquita on the phone. “I’m on my way home.”
“Hurry up and come home,” Mesquita responded.
Antonio didn’t make it home. Instead Mesquita learned she will be burying her second child in two years.
Antonio Jones made that call Tuesday night. He was hanging out with friends at the corner of Ferry Street and Limerick, a one-block road in Fair Haven between Chatham and Grafton. Shortly before 11 p.m. someone sprayed the alley with bullets. People started running. A driver in a car on the block sped away too — and struck Jones.
The driver fled. Jones, 20, extensively injured from both a bullet and the car collision, was taken to the hospital, where he died overnight.
Police said Wednesday they’re waiting on a medical autopsy to discover whether the shooting or the car attack killed Jones.
Whatever the cause, his death was an unimaginable tragedy for his mother, who in 2021 lost her daughter Alessia Mesquita. Alessia, 28, was shot dead at Clifton and Lenox Street; police have charged the father of their then 1‑year-old daughter with the homicide.
“It’s been 79 weeks” since the first killing, Mesquita said Wednesday. “I can’t catch a break.”
Mesquita described Antonio as “a very happy kid, very loving, very caring,” “a funny, good-hearted individual.” She counted on Antonio, who lived in a basement in her Fair Haven home, to help take care of Alaia, the now‑2 1/2 year-old daughter whom Alessia left behind and whom Sandy is now raising.
Maya McFadden Photo
Sandy Mesquita, holding baby Alaia, at a vigil for Alessia after her death.
Antonio Jones.
Antonio had been working toward finishing up his high school degree, Mesquita said; a bout of Covid his senior year had prevented him from completing his final credits the previous year. His plan was then to attend school to become an auto body mechanic.
Mesquita received calls not long after Antonio’s final one Tuesday night, asking if he had been hurt at an incident on Limerick. She went to the scene. Antonio had already been taken to the hospital; because he had had no ID on him, his identity was not known. Mesquita told officers she thought the victim might have been her son; the hospital was subsequently able to confirm the fact.
Mayor Justin Elicker spoke with Mesquita on Wednesday. “The loss of her second child last night is just devastating,” he said. “Our heart goes out to her and the family for this loss. We’re here to do anything we can to support her.”
Chief Karl Jacobson said investigators have obtained video evidence and are pursuing strong leads. He said it’s unknown who was the target of the bullets.
4 Shooting-Related Arrests
Jacobson and Elicker spoke about the incident during a general crime-update press conference held Wednesday. Officials reported that the police have made four arrests this month in connection with nonfatal shootings.
One of the shootings took place Feb. 17 on Ferry Street; one Aug. 28 on Winchester Avenue; one Sept. 4 at a party on Quinnipiac Avenue; and one on June 18, 2021, on Valley Street.
Chief Jacobson said the arrests reflect progress in the department’s efforts to address gun violence.
“The community is coming forward. The community is really helping us with these cases,” he said.
Mayor Justin Elicker reported that New Haven has had eight homicides so far this year, compared to 23 in 2021. It has had 92 non-fatal shootings compared to 84 at this point in 2021. Police have seized 185 (compared to 147) guns in connection with crimes; 39 were ghost guns, compared to five ghost guns seized at this point in 2021. The number of year-to-date firearm-related arrests grew from 148 to 162.