In the early evening of August 19, 2020, a burst of violence on a Meriden, Connecticut street corner claimed the life of Sammy Richard Ortiz, a 24-year-old Black / African American man. Just before 7:45 p.m., police raced to the intersection of Olive and Crown streets after receiving multiple 911 calls about a shooting. Arriving officers found Ortiz lying in the road, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and other severe injuries.
Witnesses at the scene described a terrifying sequence
of events. A dark-colored sedan reportedly approached Ortiz and struck him from behind before gunfire erupted from the vehicle. The car, containing at least two males, then sped away, heading east on Olive Street. Paramedics rushed Ortiz to Mid-State Medical Center, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
For more than a year and a half, the case remained under investigation by Meriden detectives. A breakthrough finally came in March 2022. Investigators identified 25-year-old Justin Coombs as the alleged suspect in Ortiz's killing. Already in the custody of the Department of Correction for several other unrelated arrests in Meriden, including charges of first-degree robbery and firearm offenses, Coombs was served with a new warrant on March 11, 2022.
Coombs was charged with murder and criminal liability for the acts of another in connection with the death of Sammy Ortiz. His bond was set at $1 million. The arrest brought a measure of progress in a case that had left a family and community searching for answers. Ortiz was remembered as a humble, caring, and outgoing young man who had graduated from Maloney High School and loved music, reading, and fishing.
