Double-Homicide Victims, Both Targeted, ID'd By Cops, Arrest Made: PD

NEW HAVEN, CT — Two New Haven men, who cops say were targeted, have been identified as the victims of an April 1 double-homicide.

Early Saturday morning, nine rounds of gunfire woke Winthrop Avenue and Goffe Street-area neighbors, leading to numerous 911 calls to police, according to New Haven police spokesperson Capt. Rose Dell.

When cops arrived, shortly before 8 a.m., they found two gunshot victims in a parked Acura MDX mid-block on Winthrop Avenue, Dell said.

The driver, now identified as 40-year-old Marquis Darnell McNeil, was pronounced dead on the scene, police said. The passenger, now identified as 27-year-old Jonathan Garcia, was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly after being admitted, Dell said.

Dell said that after detectives from the department’s Major Crimes Unit and Bureau of Identification collected evidence on the scene, including the seizure of a firearm, a "person of interest, who is currently on parole," was arrested. Dell added that investigators are "working with the State’s Attorney’s Office on significant leads in the case."

“I detest this senseless loss of life through gun violence," New Haven Chief of Police Karl Jacobson was quoted as saying in a news release. He "praised the quick and skillful work of responding officers and detectives that have led to many developments in this investigation."

"Although we are unable to prevent all crimes, we will devote every resource necessary to bring justice to the victims’ families," Jacobson said.

Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed this crime or who may have information
valuable to investigators to call detectives at 203-946-6304 or through the department’s
anonymous tip-line at 866-888-TIPS (8477).