On the late evening of May 4, 2023, a violent encounter at a gas station in Plymouth, Connecticut, cut short the life of Phillip Jamaal Harris-Evans, a 42-year-old Black male from New Britain. The events unfolded around 10:30 p.m. at the Gulf station located at 120 Main Street in the Terryville section of town, a place that would become the scene of a fatal shooting.
Multiple 911 calls flooded the Plymouth Police Department, reporting that a man had been shot and was gravely injured.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered Harris-Evans unresponsive and suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds. Emergency medical responders rushed him to a nearby hospital, but his injuries proved too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The tranquility of the small town was shattered, leaving residents in shock and mourning a life lost to gun violence. A sense of unease settled over the community as news of the deadly confrontation spread.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police quickly took a suspect into custody at the scene. He was identified as 40-year-old Charles Whitfield Jr., a resident of Terryville. According to law enforcement, Whitfield and Harris-Evans were known to each other, and the shooting was considered an isolated incident with no further threat to the public. Investigators worked through the night, processing the scene where a car was left running and another had a gas pump still in it, remnants of a moment violently interrupted. A neighbor later recounted hearing an argument just before the sound of gunshots pierced the night air, then witnessing a man backing away with a handgun.
Charles Whitfield Jr. was arrested without resistance and charged with murder. He was held on a $2 million bond and was subsequently arraigned in court. The motive behind the deadly dispute has not been publicly detailed, leaving the community to grapple with the senselessness of the act. As the legal process began, the family and friends of Phillip Jamaal Harris-Evans were left to navigate their profound loss, remembering a man whose life was abruptly and tragically taken. The case against Charles Whitfield Jr. is proceeding through the court system.
