John Williams, a 37-year-old Black / African American man from Hamden, Connecticut, was remembered by his loved ones as a generous and kind soul who was always willing to help others. A father to a teenage son, his life was cut short just before the holidays in 2022. On the afternoon of December 18, at about 12:10 p.m., Williams was in his vehicle at his grandmother’s home on North Street when he was shot multiple times in what prosecutors would later describe as a planned and coordinated
ambush. Emergency personnel treated him at the scene before rushing him to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Within moments of the shooting, Hamden police officers spotted a vehicle fleeing the area and attempted to pull it over on Arch Street. The driver refused to stop and tried to escape, but the pursuit ended when the car crashed at the intersection of Fitch and Arch streets. Detectives immediately began investigating whether the occupants of the crashed vehicle were connected to the fatal shooting of John Williams.
The Hamden Police Department’s Major Crimes Division, led by Detective Gabe Garcia, launched an extensive investigation into the homicide. For more than two years, detectives worked the case. In January 2025, authorities announced a major breakthrough with the arrests of two men. Eric Diaz, 48, of New Haven, and Aaron Moore, 36, of Hamden, were taken into custody. Diaz was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and carrying a pistol without a permit. Moore was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, and criminal possession of a firearm or ammunition. Both men were held on a $1 million bond.
In September 2026, Aaron Dwight Moore, then 38, was brought to trial. A jury in New Haven Superior Court found him guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and criminal use of a firearm. In a separate proceeding before the Honorable Maureen M. Keegan, the presiding judge, Moore was also found guilty of criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, and carrying a pistol or revolver without a permit. As of that month, Moore’s sentencing was scheduled for November 13, 2026.
