New Haven Register - 08/09/2006

Teen shooting victim dies; no arrests yet
By William Kaempffer, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN - A 13-year-old boy shot in the head last weekend after he left a carnival near his house has died.

Justus Suggs' family removed him from life support Tuesday afternoon. He died a short time later.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed an autopsy was scheduled for today. Justus never regained consciousness after he was shot July 29 near the intersection of Sylvan Avenue and Orchard Street, just a few blocks from the carnival at Career High School.

Justus' family did not make any public statements Tuesday. His mother, Tracey Suggs, who was at her Davenport Avenue home Tuesday night, indicated that she wasn't ready to talk about the loss of Justus. Police have said that he did not appear to be the intended target.

He had spent the afternoon working on the dirt bike behind his apartment house and in the evening went to the carnival with another group of friends with instructions from his mother not to be out too late, his family has said.

The shooting occurred just after 10 p.m., when the occupants of a car rolled up and at least one of the occupants opened fire on a crowd of youths, hitting Justus once, police have said.

Police last week said they were following promising leads, but the investigation apparently did not progress as quickly as hoped.

"No arrests have been made," said police spokeswoman Bonnie Winchester. "They're continuing their investigation at this point."

Police have released no information about the investigation.

Justus is survived by his mother; older brother, Keith Weston; and extended family.

The boy had been kept alive on a respirator. Last week, his mother, Tracey Suggs, said she wanted to end his pain and was waiting for out-of-town family to arrive.

Police have said the shooting may be related to a neighborhood feud between the Hill, where Justus lived, and Dwight-Kensington.

An off-duty detective who witnessed the shooting followed the car to George Street, where the occupants jumped out and escaped.

Police seized the car and recovered a gun that was inside.

Justus' shooting came six weeks after a 13-year-old girl, Jajuana Cole, was shot to death near her house when a gunman fired into a crowd. Five people have been arrested in that case.

©New Haven Register 2006

New Have Register - 08/16/2006

Teen charged in fatal shooting of boy
By William Kaempffer

NEW HAVEN - A 16-year-old youth has been arrested as the gunman who killed 13-year-old Justus Suggs.

Thaddeus Rout appeared in a closed hearing in New Haven Superior Court Wednesday afternoon and was charged with murder and other charges.

He had been jailed on unrelated larceny counts as detectives Ed Reynolds and Steve Teague built the case against him.

Police say Rout was the gunman who fired into a crowd July 29 on Sylvan Avenue near Orchard Street.

Suggs, who was riding home from a nearby carnival, was struck in the head. He never regained consciousness and died Aug. 8 after his family removed him from life support. He was buried yesterday.

According to police, the incident apparently stemmed from a fight on the New Haven Green an hour or so before the shooting. Rout allegedly got into a brawl with a young man from the Hill neighborhood and got the worst of it, cops said. He later hooked up with a friend and drove through the Hill neighborhood.

On Sylvan Avenue, at about 10 p.m., Rout allegedly opened fire on a group of young men. Suggs was not believed to be the intended target. It was not clear if the person who had fought with Rout was in the crowd or if he fired indiscriminately.

The driver of the car has been identified and interviewed by police but has not been arrested.

Rout lives on Edgewood Avenue in an area kids call the Tre, and youths there have a standing feud with youths from the Hill.

Suggs was the second 13-year-old killed by an errant bullet in six weeks in the city.

In June, Jajuana Cole was shot in the back and died after gunmen opened fire on a group on Dickerman Street.

©New Haven Register 2006

New Haven Independent - August 16, 2006

Cops Arrest 16 Year-Old For Justus' Murder
by Melissa Bailey

One day after 13 year-old Justus Suggs was laid to rest, police have charged a 16 year-old boy with murder. Police said a beef between the Hill and the Tre prompted the suspect to shoot.

A 16 year-old boy from the Dwight/Kensington area, a.k.a. the Tre, was arrested Wednesday while appearing in court for a separate larceny case. He was charged with murder and criminal possession of a firearm and held on a $3 million bond.

Police Chief Cisco Ortiz said police believe the boy got into a fight with some kids from the Hill - not including Justus - at a concert on the New Haven Green on July 29. The boy later "sought out a gun" and took a car to the Hill, where teens were spilling out of a carnival at the Career High School. The boy opened fire from a car, "targeting a group of kids" on bikes - not Justus in particular, said Ortiz. One bullet hit Justus in the back of the head, sending the boy into a coma from which he was not to recover. Another bullet barely missed one of Justus' friends.

An off-duty cop witnessed the shooting and followed the car to the Tre, where the car was abandoned with a gun inside. Ortiz said Wednesday he had "conclusive evidence" that that gun was the murder weapon. Ortiz said he did not expect further arrests in the case.

WTNH - August 17, 2006

16-year-old arrested in shooting death of teen
By Kent Pierce

A rival run-in may have lead to the shooting death of a 13-year old New Haven boy. All-fingers are pointing to one suspect in the death of Justus Suggs, and he is only 16.

This was sort of like a tale of two mothers. Thaddeus Rout was arraigned on a murder charge Thursday morning. He's 16, so his mother Felicia was standing next to him. And just a few feet behind them, in the front row, was Tracey Suggs, the grieving mother of the boy Rout allegedly shot.

Thaddeus Rout is no stranger to courts and prison khakis. During his arraignment it came out that the 16 year-old has numerous prior arrests, and he was already in custody for stealing a car when was charged with murder.

Felicia Rout hid from our cameras, but in court she stood next to her son as the judge upheld his bail at three million dollars.

Thaddeus Rout is charged with putting a bullet in the back of Justus Suggs' head on the night of July 29th.

Police say the shooting was actually the result of a confrontation an hour and a half earlier between two groups of teens from rival neighborhoods - the Hill neighborhood and the Dwight-Kensington neighborhood - and they had a confrontation in downtown New Haven. They say that Thaddeus Rout was part of the group from Dwight Kensington."

An hour and a half later, police say Rout drove through the Hill neighborhood, spotted a group of teens and opened fire. Justus Suggs just happened to be riding his bicycle home from a carnival.

The 13 year-old lived, but only thanks to life support machines. His family decided it had no choice but to let him go. Outside the arraignment, Tracey Suggs was still too distraught to talk about it.

And this was just one death in a bloody summer in New Haven.

"No, it doesn't surprise me, but I don't think the violence is geared towards each other. I just think it's an outlet,"

Bishop Kenny Peeples said. Bishop Peeples runs a community church. He says teens need good role models in order to stay away from gangs.

"They need to see us out in the community more than they see the drug dealers. They need to see the positive people in the community. There is an apathetic mindset in our people in that they're afraid to come out of their own house. These kids need to see us more than they see the police."

As for the police, they say they have the gun Rout used and the car he was in, and now they have him behind bars on three million dollars bond. He'll be back in court on September 5th.

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