New Haven's 16th Homicide: Woman, 22, Shot On Truman Street Dies

NEW HAVEN, CT —On the corner of Truman Street and Clover Place there's a community garden. In the Hill neighborhood, there's a number of storefront houses of worship. And an elementary school where Thursday morning, children played.

On Monday, around 2:40 in the afternoon, shots rang out on Truman Street between Clover Place and King Place.

Ciera "CeeCee" Jones, 22, was gunned down; shot in the head. The New Haven Independent identified Jones in a report, but has her first named spelled as Cierra.

Just after noon Thursday, New Haven police spokesperson officer Scott Shumway officially confirmed Jones' identification and death, noting when asked by Patch that in police records, her first name is spelled as Ciera.

Early Thursday morning, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker issued a news release early in the day announcing Jones had "succumbed" to the wounds she'd suffered.

The New Haven Independent reported late Wednesday that Jones and others were standing outside her house across from the Truman Street Community Garden when she was shot. Rushed to Yale New Haven Hospital, the Independent reported, she was "put on life support" but by Wednesday, had died.

In Elicker's statement, he said he'd gone to the site of the killing with cops as they "canvassed" the neighborhood, and the scene of what is now a homicide, the 16th in the city so far this year.

"I canvassed the area with police Tuesday evening, and this loss of life is heartbreaking. Our nation is experiencing a surge in gun violence, and New Haven is no different,” he said, adding that in the "past two weeks I’ve joined officers on walking beats," part of the city's "multi-pronged approach to addressing the rise in violence."

Elicker said the latest killing on New Haven streets, not unlike the uptick in "gun violence throughout the country," has led to programs to stop, or curb, the gun violence.

“We’re taking an all hands on deck approach to curbing this disturbing trend – including: increased walking beats, re-starting the shooting task force, opening a re-entry welcome center, hiring more street outreach workers and violence interruption specialists, and restarting programs like Project Safe Neighborhood and Project Longevity that work with high risk individuals to keep them safe and out of trouble. And, we’re making progress. Last week our officers – through collaboration with the Shooting Taskforce – made multiple arrests related to illegal firearms and took five guns off the streets.”

The Independent noted that police had "acted fast" after the Truman Street shooting and "seized a stolen vehicle on Lenox Street that is believed to be connected to the shooting." And, the paper reported, cops went in search of a witness, or other victim: "They were informed that this person may have been shot as well. They found the person within hours, nearby on Vernon Street. It turned out he had not been shot. But the interaction led police to obtain a search warrant and seize a gun. They believe this may have prevented a reprisal shooting."

The Independent and Patch have tallied the 16 homicides so far this year:

January
In January, Alfreda Youmans, 50, and Jeffrey Dotson, 42, were found dead by the police inside a Winthrop Avenue apartment, Jorge Osorio-Caballero, 32, was shot and killed in Fair Haven, Marquis Winfrey, 31, was shot and killed in Newhallville, and Joseph Vincent Mattei, 28, was shot and killed in the Hill.

February

Yale grad student Kevin Jiang, 26, was gunned down Feb. 6. Angel Rodriguez, 21, was shot to death in Fair Haven in mid-February, his body dumped by the Mill River in East Rock.

March

Dwaneia Alexandria Turner, 28, was shot to death in the Hill on March 16. On March 26, Alessia Mesquita was shot dead in Fair Haven.

May

Mariyah Inthirath, 20, was killed Saturday, May 15, on Sheffield Avenue. Hopeton Jack was killed near Orchard and George on Tuesday, May 18. On May 19, Tashawn Brown was shot dead across from Edgewood Park. On May 26, Adrian Barwise, 34, was shot in a Sherman Parkway home.

June

Miguel Ramos, 37, was shot dead on Springside Avenue on June 6. Richard Whitaker Jr. was shot to death on Columbus Avenue in the Hill on June 15.

July

Cierra Jones was shot on Truman Street July 5. She died July 7.

Mayor's response

Elicker said that New Haven's latest "homicide comes just two weeks after President Joe Biden’s national address on the concerning upward trend of gun violence throughout the country," adding that the city has "already undertaken" a series of steps to make New Haven safer, including:

• Invest in evidence-based community violence interventions.
  • Through Project Safe Summer, New Haven is investing $2 million into prevention initiatives, focused on enhancing existing intervention efforts by paying for more counselors, street outreach workers, engagement activities, and other related programs.
• Expanding summer programming, employment opportunities, and other services and supports for teenagers and young adults.
  • Through the Summer Reset, New Haven invested an additional $1.5 million into summer youth camps and employment as well as funded 25 grass-roots grants for community led youth engagement initiatives.
• Help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully reenter their communities.
  • Earlier this year the re-entry Welcome Center was opened on Grand Ave. This one-stop-shop offer wraps around supportive services for individuals returning home from incarceration.