by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent
Kaiden’s maternal grandmother Corneil Hill-Williams.
“Every household in New Haven, Connecticut, should be outraged by this,” Alex Ketchum said about a 13-year-old boy’s alleged murder of his 15-year-old grandson, Kaiden Phillips.
“This is not normal behavior. … This can’t be good for any of us.”
Ketchum mourned his grandson’s death and the senseless violence allegedly perpetrated by someone so young during a press conference held on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.
Those gathered on Wednesday said time and again that the tragedy that had brought them together does not and cannot make sense.
Kaiden, 15, was shot and killed while on Lincoln-Bassett School’s campus soon before 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. He was a sophomore at Career High School, a talented and dedicated basketball player, and a former employee of Youth@Work.
Less than two weeks later, on Oct. 10, police arrested a 13-year-old for allegedly committing that murder.
On Wednesday, Police Chief Karl Jacobson and Asst. Chief David Zannelli said that the arrestee is currently in custody at the Bridgeport Juvenile Residential Center as his criminal case makes its way through juvenile court. Jacobson declined to go into further detail on the case, as the warrant is sealed; he praised Det. Radim Kunz and Sgt. Jeremy Mastroianni for leading the investigation that led to the arrest.
A half dozen of Kaiden’s family members — including grandparents and aunts — spoke up at Wednesday’s presser.
Each spoke about how devastating Kaiden’s homicide has been for those who loved him, about how upsetting it is that a 13-year-old allegedly committed this crime. Each praised the police department for swiftly making an arrest. Each spoke about wanting to see justice for their lost loved one.
“The 13-year-old, can he be rehabilitated?” Ketchum asked. “I believe so. I’m not a firm believer of locking a child up for life. I do believe he can be rehabilitated. But we want to seek the accurate justice to fit the crime.”
Kaiden’s maternal grandmother, Corneil Hill-Williams, said that, for Kaiden’s life to be taken over “jealousy, hatred, is not sitting well with me.” This all happened because a 13-year-old chose to fight not with his hands but with a gun, she said.
“Connecticut, we have got to do something to change our laws. This is horrible,” Hill-Williams said. “If you did the crime, you should pay for it.”
In a written statement read aloud by another family member, Kaiden’s paternal grandmother Crystal said that Kaiden’s death could have been prevented. She said that the 13-year-old who was ultimately arrested for this crime had pointed a gun at Kaiden’s head before. “Where are these kids getting guns from?” she asked.
At the end of the press conference, Chief Jacobson said that the “incident” referred to by a number of Kaiden’s family members had taken place in Hamden. He also said that the 13-year-old suspect in this case had been arrested by police before. “We wish we could have done more” to help stop this tragedy from taking place.