Grief Follows Latest Pedestrian Fatality

Gilberto Molina loved to paint seascapes and tinker with cars. He’d spend hours lying in bed with Beats headphones wrapped around his ears, and would get up in an instant if his sister or brothers or mom needed his help.

He was quiet and kept to himself. And his family misses him desperately after he was struck and killed by a car on Columbus Avenue earlier this week, the latest fatality in a season of pedestrian carnage on New Haven streets.

Molina’s family members and girlfriend reminisced about their late brother, son, and partner Wednesday afternoon in their crowded second-floor apartment on Kensington Street in the Dwight neighborhood.

Through heavy tears and cries of pain articulated almost entirely in Spanish, the family lamented the fact that on Monday night, Molina, a 44-year-old native of Puerto Rico, became the third pedestrian to be struck and killed by a car in New Haven already this year when he was hit on Columbus Avenue near West Street.

“We’re always going to remember him, forever,” said his girlfriend, Rosaura Diaz.

“Remember, he’s got a family,” Molina’s sister, Yanire Villalongo, said as she called on the driver who fled the scene after striking Molina to turn him- or herself in to the police. ​“It’s not fair to hit somebody and just go. Just leave him behind. It’s not funny. He needs to take responsibility for that. There’s a family left behind”

Police spokesperson Capt. Anthony Duff said that the police are still investigating Monday’s fatal hit and run.

Duff said that police are also still investigating the two other pedestrian fatalities that took place earlier this year. On Jan. 14, 50-year-old New Havener Arthur Bastek was struck and killed on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. On Jan. 22, 55-year-old New Havener Kevin Anthony Cunningham was struck and killed on Whalley Avenue. See below for more details on those two incidents.

Molina’s sister said Wednesday afternoon their family has lived in the same Kensington Street apartment ever since moving from Puerto Rico to New Haven over 25 years ago.

“He was quiet,” she said about Molina.

“Timido,” added one of Molina’s brothers, Jose Molina, who wore dark aviator sunglasses as he sat crying on the couch and flipping through phone pictures of his brother alongside Diaz.

Villalongo said that her brother was funny and friendly. ​“Every time I need him, he was there.”

“He liked fishing,” said Molina’s other brother, Camilo Villalongo. He said Molina would frequently drive to Orange with a fishing rod and spend hours listening to music and trying to catch something he could bring home.

“He used to sing,” his sister said. ​“He loved music.’

And he loved to paint. Camilo and Molina’s mother, Juana Cruz, brought out two canvases that Molina had recently finished: one of a beach with two lighthouses looking out over frothy blue waves and a handful of seagulls, one of a tranquil footpath snaking through the woods in autumn.

“He was a nice person,” Yanire said. He had two children and one grandchild.

Molina’s upstairs neighbor, Jhamal Gallimore (pictured), said that he had known Molina for 22 years.

“He was a fairly good dude,” he said. He said that Molina struggled with addiction, but that he was always quiet and kind.

“It was a shocker,” he said about when the police came to the Kensington Street apartment building to break the news to the family that Molina had been killed. ​“A real shocker.”

Cassandra Waller (pictured) said she knew Molina for over 15 years. ​“He kept to himself,” she said while walking by her late friend’s apartment towards Stop & Shop. ​“He didn’t bother anybody.”

Kevin Cunningham

Because of the ongoing nature of the investigations, Duff declined to share the incident reports retained by the police department regarding what police have learned so far about the crashes that led to the deaths of Bastek and Cunningham.

He did however send over by email more details that the department is comfortable making public at this point about those two incidents.

The crash that took Cunningham’s life happened at around 7:39 p.m. in the area of Whalley Avenue and Norton Street.

Duff said that arriving emergency responders found Cunningham with life threatening injuries lying in the roadway of Whalley Avenue. An ambulance transported him to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was declared deceased a short time later.

The motor vehicle operator was a 51-year-old Waterbury man. Duff said that man remained on the scene and has cooperated with the investigation.

“Investigators at the scene learned the pedestrian had attempted to cross Whalley Avenue between Winthrop Avenue and Norton Street and was struck by the westbound vehicle,” Duff wrote. ​“Several motorists witnessed the crash and remained on scene.”

He said that the NHPD Accident Reconstruction Team responded to the scene. As part of the investigation, police have impounded the involved vehicle, a subcompact crossover Honda sport utility vehicle.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information and who has not spoken to police is asked to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203 – 946-6316. Callers may remain anonymous.

Baker, Chess Player, ​“Tenacious Competitor”

Colonial Funerals published an obituary about Cunningham soon before his Jan. 30 funeral at Trinity Baptist Church.

Click here to read that obituary in full.

According to the obit, Cunningham, who went by the nickname ​“Tony,” was born on Aug. 21, 1964 in Chicago Heights, Illinois.

He grew up in Chicago Heights with three brothers, including his twin, Terrance.

The obituary notes that Cunningham was on the wrestling team in high school and that he had a reputation for being a ​“tenacious competitor” in his 126 pound weight class.

“He took 3rd place in the State Tournament for his weight class during his Freshmen year in 1978 at Bloom Township High School,” the obit reads.

When he was 18, Cunningham moved to Connecticut with his mother, his step-father, and two of his brothers.

He held many jobs in the food and maintenance industries during his years in Connecticut.

“Out of all the jobs he held, being a baker was his absolute favorite,” the obit reads. ​“Baking gave him a real sense of pride. He enjoyed explaining to anyone who would listen, the step-by-step process of making baked goods. He was good at baking and he knew it!”

One of his first baking jobs was at Dunkin Donuts. The obit says that Cunningham would wake up very early to get to work everyday, and that he always got a kick out of saying to himself: ​“Time to make the donuts.”

When he wasn’t baking, the obit reads, Cunningham like to play the cello and the piano. He loved to play the songs ​“Easy Like Sunday Morning” and ​“I Just Want To Thank You God.”

“He was extremely smart, very articulate, and was an excellent chess player,” the obit continues. ​“He amazed his friends, some of whom were Yale graduates, but could not beat him at chess. 

“But his greatest achievement is that he always looked for ways he could help someone else – even when he couldn’t help himself. Family meant everything to him. He often spoke about his family. He was especially fond of his daughter Riley who was his heartbeat.”

The obit reads that Cunningham often carried a Bible around with him. He joined Trinity Baptist Church in 2007.

“He connected with everyone, no matter what their status. He was equally comfortable with a physician, an attorney, as well as the man on the street.”

Arthur Bastek

Duff also shared new details about the crash that took the life of Bastek on Jan. 14.

According to Duff, officers responded to the area of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard not far from the intersection with Columbus Avenue at around 7:31 p.m. on a report of a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle.

Arriving officers found Bastek with life threatening injuries lying in a southbound portion of the roadway. An ambulance transported him to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was declared deceased a short time later.

The motor vehicle operator of the involved sport utility vehicle was a 63-year-old Shelton man. That driver remained on the scene and has cooperated with the investigation.

Duff said that investigators at the scene learned that the pedestrian had attempted to cross the Boulevard in the long block between Columbus Avenue and Legion Avenue. He was struck by a southbound vehicle in the area of 769 Ella T. Grasso Blvd.

Prior to the arrival of the police, several motorists stopped to assist at the crash and remained on scene.

Duff said that one Good Samaritan, a 24-year-old New Haven motorist, said she was traveling south on the Boulevard when she came upon the injured pedestrian lying in the roadway. The woman said she parked her vehicle in the roadway near the victim to prevent further injury by oncoming traffic.

The NHPD Accident Reconstruction Team responded to the scene. As part of the investigation, officers impounded the involved full size Dodge sport utility vehicle.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information and who has not spoken to police is asked to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203 – 946-6316. Callers may remain anonymous.