Print

Grieving Father Calls On Community to Solve Unsolved Murders

By Andy Hart

December 06, 2012

Barely a month after his son was fatally shot on the streets of Hartford, Sam Saylor held a press conference on the steps of City Hall on November 23 to urge residents, police and civic leaders to work together to solve the city’s many unsolved homicides.

Saylor’s son, Shane, was killed on October 20. A suspect has been arrested in the case, and Saylor thanked the police for their efforts as well as members of the public who came forward to supply evidence.

But Saylor said it should not stop there. He said no family who has lost a loved one should be forced to live with the knowledge that his or her killer is still walking the streets.

“I am so resolved, so determined to witness resolution for my son Shane, but not for Shane only, but indeed for every unresolved case languishing in the hopeless and shameful boxes marked ‘cold cases.’ The catalyst for my resolve is the fact that people actually did come forward in my child’s murder. We have his killer behind bars and facing judgement for his action,” Saylor said. “If people can [come forward] in our case, they can as well in other cases. We need to spread the word, we need to encourage the thought, and inspire the will to do just that.”

Saylor announced that “Resolution 2013,” a coalition of Hartford community groups, will be holding a community forum entitled “Seeking Closure and Justice,” to address the city’s many unsolved homicide cases. The forum is scheduled for Tuesday, January 29, at 5 pm in Phillips Metropolitan C.M.E. Church, 2550 Main Street, Hartford. The public is strongly encouraged to attend.

At the November 23rd press conference, Saylor also expressed the hope that his son’s murder would be the last Hartford homicide for 2012. No murders were committed in Hartford from October 20 until just this Monday, December 3, when Ricardo Arroyo, 36, of Wethersfield, was found dead in a burning car near the corner of New Britain Avenue and Monroe Street. Arroyo had died of a gunshot wound to the head. On Tuesday, December 4, Hartford Police announced that Verall Anthony Hampton had died of gunshot wounds he had suffered on Sunday, November 11, on Albany Avenue. A suspect is in custody for Hampton’s shooting. Anyone with any information on either case is asked to call HPD Major Crimes Division Lieutenant Brian Foley at (860) 757-4463.