In the late hours of a summer night in New Haven, Connecticut, on August 26, 1966, the life of 24-year-old Carolyn Sykes was tragically cut short. She was inside a residence at 16 Northeast Drive when a man named Arthur J. Davis, then 27, entered the home armed with a carbine and began shooting. The motive for this violent outburst stemmed from a personal grievance Davis had with his estranged girlfriend, who had left him earlier that day.
Carolyn was not the only person to fall victim
to the gunman's rage that night. Five other individuals lost their lives in the attack, including 51-year-old Mary McClease, 55-year-old Neal White, 27-year-old Richard Leathers, 14-year-old Francine McClease, and 5-year-old Michael Sykes. At the moment the shooting began, Carolyn was having her hair done by another woman in the kitchen. She attempted to flee toward a utility closet but was fatally shot.
Following the horrific events, Arthur J. Davis fled the scene, sparking a manhunt that concluded with his capture in New Jersey. In 1969, he was brought to justice, convicted on six counts of first-degree murder, and subsequently sentenced to death. However, a 1972 Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the death penalty led to his sentence being commuted to six consecutive life terms in prison.
