On a summer evening in New Haven, Connecticut, the life of 40-year-old Howard Lewis was tragically cut short. On July 14, 2020, Lewis, a male resident of nearby Hamden, was sitting in his parked car on Munson Street. He was there for a simple, everyday reason: to pick up his child from a hair appointment. Inside the vehicle with him were his 15-year-old son and 18-year-old brother. In a sudden burst of violence, gunfire erupted, and a bullet struck Lewis in the chest.
Rushed to Yale New Haven Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries, his death marking the city's 10th homicide of the year. The tragic irony of the situation was that Lewis was not the intended target of the shooting; he was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. His death occurred just one day before his son's 10th birthday and a mere seven days after his own 40th birthday.
The investigation into the senseless killing led New Haven police to identify a suspect. In December 2020, authorities announced they had secured an arrest warrant for 22-year-old Jaison J. Flowers of New Haven, charging him with murder and criminal possession of a firearm. At the time the warrant was issued, Flowers was already incarcerated for a probation violation. Investigators determined that Flowers had fired two shots at another vehicle, but missed his intended target, with one of the bullets fatally striking Lewis. The shooting was one of four separate shooting incidents that tragically occurred in New Haven on that same day.
Jaison Flowers faced the consequences of his actions in a court of law. During his trial, Flowers claimed he fired his weapon in self-defense, alleging that the driver of the other vehicle had pulled a gun on him. However, the jury rejected his self-defense claim. In March 2025, a jury found Flowers guilty of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. It was also noted that at the time of the shooting, Flowers was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a previous felony conviction. In May 2025, a judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison for the killing of Howard Lewis. During the sentencing, numerous family members, including his wife Nicole, his children, and his brother, spoke of the profound loss and the void his absence created in their lives.
