No Arrests Made In Concord NH Teen Homicide Investigation In Providence RI From 2023: Follow-Up

CONCORD, NH — In the early morning hours of April 15, 2023, Isiah Rosario was shot and killed in Providence, Rhode Island.

He was 15.

Before his death, Rosario had been missing for about two weeks. He was officially reported as a runaway.

Rosario was shot around 2:30 a.m.

Police, and fire and rescue teams, showed up to the scene of a shooting on March Street in the Chad Brown housing development. A dispatcher told arriving first responders they heard “a large disturbance in the background,” but CPR was in progress. Witnesses reported at least five gunshots, screaming, and then, bedlam in the neighborhood ensued.

EMTs and firefighters staged for police and rendered aid to Rosario, who was shot in the chest. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital and pronounced dead.

Had he lived, Rosario would probably be making prom plans and preparing for graduation with the Class of 2026 at Concord High School, too. Originally from Rhode Island, he and his family moved to Concord to seek a better life at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Before coming to Concord, the family also lived in Bristol and South Kingstown, RI.

Rosario’s mom, according to a GoFundMe post put together by her sister, wanted her sons to enjoy life without the influence of the inner city.

“My sister helped teach me how to be a mother and a believer in God and defined what family first means,” she said. “Our family is shattered by this and my sister and Isiah's siblings need to be surrounded by family and love.”

A resident of the neighborhood where Rosario was shot, according to WJAR-TV, described him as a “good kid” who “loved his friends,” and who was funny, smart, and enjoyed basketball and music, “you know, normal teenage boy stuff like that.”

The killing of Rosario is still an open case, one of only a few recent open cold cases in the city, according to Col. Oscar Perez Jr., Providence’s police chief. He called the death of Rosario “devastating,” and said the department’s team was still investigating the shooting.

“We are committed to every case, when it comes to homicides, in the city of Providence,” he said. “No homicide case is ever, ever forgotten about, whether it happened recently or decades ago. We remain committed to seeking justice for victims and their families.”

Perez said the families of open cases are among the most resilient and patient, even though their pain can be deeper than others’ because the cases are not solved. He said the detectives immediately began working the case, gathering evidence, and searching for leads, after the shooting, and still do, attempting to “put the dots together.” Perez said the department uses a variety of strategies, including speaking with witnesses, reviewing case files, and examining electronic and DNA evidence. Reinterviewing witnesses months, if not years, later often leads to breaks in cases, with people feeling more comfortable speaking about what they saw.

“And that, sometimes, is what we look for... a break,” Perez said. “Life changes… circumstances change… even the small details they probably didn’t think were important, at the time, could become critical for us (now).”

Providence has a sergeant and two detectives working full-time on the unsolved cases, often reviewing and rereviewing them, especially when new data, information, DNA, or evidence comes to light. The attorney general’s office, too, works on Providence cases, with several retired Providence officers working for that cold case department.

Changes in the investigatory process, he said, are also rapidly advancing.

When there is a homicide case, both officers on regular duty, detectives, and the cold case investigators get involved.

During his first year, he said, there were 14 killings and 11 were cleared. Rosario is one of the three unsolved cases in 2023, which occurred shortly after he became chief. Homicides have been trending down in the city, Perez said. Back in 2020, there were 18 homicides, he said, and 11 in 2024. In 2025, there were only four, including the two at Brown University. All four have been solved. This year, there has only been one homicide so far.

Despite the Rosario killing not being solved, Perez said he was pleased with the department’s clearance rate on homicides. The coordination between departments, the gathering of evidence, and not giving up help investigators reach convictions.

“It’s pretty high, for us,” he said about the clearance rate.

Perez, too, said it was the department’s ethos not to forget about any homicide in the city. He said families and friends of those who have died are counting on investigators to resolve the cases and put criminals in jail, often so they don’t commit more crimes.

One recent case, Perez said, was the John Nunez arrest, one of the state’s most wanted, who was found in Guatemala and nearly nine years after being accused of the murder of Devin Burney in 2017.

“If we don’t find where they are, it’s possible they are going to do another crime,” he said, “it is critical for us to try and find violent individuals. And in the community, the trust and legitimacy of the department are critical.”

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