Police To Charge Man In Stabbing Murder On Green

by Paul Bass

Chevanne Spencer left her job at the Elm Street library worried about her life.

Her older brother Michael got into an argument there a year later and then died across the street.

She talked about that Wednesday at a press conference at police headquarters two weeks after a man stabbed Michael Spencer to death on the New Haven Green after an argument that began across the street inside the New Haven Free Public Library.

Police called the press conference to announce they’ve obtained a warrant to charge a 49-year-old man with murder and carrying a dangerous weapon.

Chevanne Spencer thanked police, especially lead Detective Freddy Salmeron, at the press conference for having solved the murder.

She spoke about the pain of losing her brother to a “senseless and horrific” murder that began at the library where she used to work until she felt it became too dangerous.

She and police said Michael, a 37-year-old city native and Hillhouse High graduate who returned to town last November after living in Atlanta, Ga., was inside the library working on job applications when he asked the 49-year-old man to turn down music he was playing. The man allegedly threw a chair at Michael, which a security guard caught. An argument ensued. A security guard asked the men to leave the library, which they did. The 49-year-old man went across the street, waited for Michael, then allegedly stabbed him repeatedly in the torso and other parts of his body, leaving Michael to stumble across Temple Street to collapse at the Elm Street corner bus stop.

Chevanne Spencer spoke at the press conference about how she worked at the Elm Street main library branch for over two years as an assistant at the circulation desk. She spoke about daily violent or otherwise upsetting incidents that made her and the staff feel unsafe. She spoke of keeping mace in her pocket. One day a threatening man followed her on her way to work into the building, where fortunately a co-worker had shown up and kept her safe.

“I saw co-workers assaulted. I experienced harassment myself. I left in part because I did not feel safe there … for reasons such as this,” the incident that later claimed her brother’s life. She said she left the job in May 2025.

Video footage from a CT Transit bus captured the assault, according to Police Chief David Zannelli. Surveillance video from the library and Yale cameras produced high-resolution images that police used to appeal for public help in finding the attacker. The department then received calls identifying the attacker, whom officers subsequently caught on Aug. 18 while he was riding his bike by the Whalley Stop & Shop, according to Detective Salmeron.

Police held the man that day on an unrelated warrant for a failure to appear in court on an unrelated weapons charge. He has been incarcerated since then; bond on the new charges has been set at $1.5 million. He has not entered a plea yet on the new charges. (Police hadn’t yet served the warrant mid-day Wednesday.) The man has been found guilty in four other cases since 2017 on burglary, larceny, and drug charges, according to the state judicial database.

After speaking about her brother Michael, Chevanne Spencer made a public appeal to improve safety at the library.

She spoke about the increased roles the library has assumed over the years as a warming and cooling center and safe spot for unhoused people to spend time. In a conversation after her formal remarks, she spoke of how the staff had asked for police presence in the building but were told the city felt that would intimidate patrons. She said security guards lack the authority to physically prevent people from doing harm.

“The library is out of control,” she said.

“When public buildings are asked to take on these expanded roles, the city also has to take on responsibility” to staff it with police and have clear policies protecting workers and other members of the public, Spencer argued.

Reached for comment after the press conference, Mayor Justin Elicker said the city has “received feedback from library staff that recently there have been more incidents, primarily involving disputes” between visitors. The city lacks the capacity to station a police officer full time there, but it does have officers “regularly walk through the library as a supplement to the security guards.”

“We want to make sure the library is welcome to everyone who is respectful to one another and ensure the library is safe for everyone.”

Lead case Detective Freddy Salmeron with Chief David Zannelli at Wednesday’s press conference.