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.
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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.
There’s been a lot of senseless violence in New Haven this year. Too many kids with guns. There’s more to the state of Connecticut than a fun and exciting Senate race. We’ve got some pretty intractable problems here. I wish there were easy answers, but there aren’t.