On the evening of May 23, 2018, the sound of five gunshots broke the quiet on Enfield Street in Hartford, Connecticut. Responding to an alert from the city's gunfire detection system just after 9 p.m., police officers arrived to a grim scene. They found 44-year-old Lydia Tirillo, a Hispanic female, lying in the middle of the street, suffering from gunshot wounds to her torso and leg. She was quickly transported to St.
Francis Hospital and Medical Center, but her injuries proved to be fatal, and she was pronounced dead.
Investigators immediately began to piece together the events of that night, believing that the shooting was not a random act of violence, but rather that Tirillo had been specifically targeted. While they initially stated that the motive did not appear to be related to domestic violence, they did indicate that Tirillo was known to law enforcement. Authorities began the arduous task of reviewing surveillance footage from the area in an effort to identify who was responsible for her death.
For several months, the investigation continued until a breakthrough came in the fall of that year. On Thursday, November 1, 2018, Hartford police arrested 26-year-old Byron Perry in connection with Tirillo's murder. It was revealed that Tirillo and Perry were acquainted with each other, and the shooting is believed to have been the result of a dispute between them.
Perry was taken into custody and faced multiple charges, including murder and carrying a pistol without a permit. For these charges, his bond was set at $1 million. He also faced additional charges of possession of narcotics and interfering with police, for which a separate bond of $25,000 was set. Following his arrest, he was scheduled for arraignment the next day, marking a significant development in a case that had left a family and community searching for answers.
