In the pre-dawn hours of October 30, 2019, tragedy struck in Hartford, Connecticut, forever altering the lives of one family. Taylor Irizarry, a 21-year-old Black / African American male from the neighboring city of New Britain, was fatally shot just before 5 a.m. near an apartment building at 87 Spring Street. The area, close to Interstate 84 and Union Station, was quiet at that early hour, with no 911 calls being made to report the single gunshot that rang out in the darkness.
It was the city's ShotSpotter system that alerted the Hartford Police Department to the gunfire.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered Irizarry suffering from a single gunshot wound to his back. He was rushed to St. Francis Hospital, but his injury proved to be too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The shooting marked the city's 21st homicide of the year, a somber milestone that surpassed the total for the entirety of the previous year. Investigators canvassed the area for hours, cordoning off the crime scene and asking residents to remain indoors to preserve any potential evidence. A single spent shell casing was recovered at the scene. Police described the shooting as a "very targeted attack."
In the wake of his death, it was revealed that Irizarry was a father to two young children, a five-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. His mother, Sonia Irizarry, later shared that her son had been suffering from strep throat and had been released from St. Francis Hospital earlier that day. She had called a Lyft to take him back to his apartment on Spring Street. According to his mother, the Lyft driver reported to police that he had not seen anything. A vigil was later held to honor Taylor's memory, where family and friends gathered with roses, candles, and pictures to mourn their loss and plead for justice. As of late 2019, the Hartford Police Department was still searching for a suspect and urged anyone with information to come forward. There have been no public reports of any arrests being made in connection with the murder of Taylor Irizarry.
