On a cool autumn evening in Stamford, Connecticut, 43-year-old Black/African American female Maxine Gooden was spending time with her daughter and friends at Lione Park on November 2, 2015. Known for her joyful spirit and delicious Jamaican cooking, which she often sold at the park to make ends meet, the mother of five was simply enjoying a conversation when the night was shattered by the sound of gunfire. As chaos erupted, Gooden was struck by a stray bullet.
Her daughter, who was just feet away, initially thought her mother was ducking for cover but soon made the horrific discovery that she had been shot. Emergency services rushed Gooden to Stamford Hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries a short time later.
The senseless act was not without immediate consequences for the perpetrators. Alerted by witnesses who bravely chased the suspects and noted their getaway vehicle's license plate, police were able to act swiftly. Within minutes of the shooting, officers located a black Jeep and arrested the three men inside: Jhonel Telemin, Deshawn Hayes, and Morris Joel Moore Jr. Inside the vehicle, authorities discovered a dismantled gun hidden in the dashboard that was later matched to the bullets found at the scene. The three men were promptly charged in connection with Gooden's death, with Telemin facing a murder charge, while Hayes and Moore were initially charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
The legal proceedings that followed were complex and spanned several years. The charges against Hayes and Moore were eventually elevated to accessory to commit murder. In a significant turn of events in October 2018, Morris Moore pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Later, during the trial of his co-defendants in November 2021, Moore took the stand and claimed full responsibility for firing the shots that killed Gooden. In a verdict that followed days of deliberation, a jury found Jhonel Telemin-Valerio and Deshawn Hayes not guilty of murder and first-degree manslaughter. They were, however, found guilty of criminal possession of a firearm.
