HARTFORD -- September 2, 2009 feels just like yesterday to Carleen Coleman.
"It was humid and everyone was outside," Coleman recalls.
On her way home from church that night, she stopped in Hartford to give her husband Tim his jacket as the temperatures dropped. He was visiting a friend from his old neighborhood. It was the last time Coleman would see her husband alive.
"His brother called and said, I need you to get to the hospital," said Coleman.
39-year-old Timothy Coleman was ambushed around 10 p.m. at the corner of Albany Avenue and Edgewood Street in Hartford, shot multiple times.
"Someone called his name," said Coleman. "And when they called his name, he turned around and that's when the bullets start flying."
He passed away at the hospital. "The doctor came in and said well, we did all that we could do, but he died," said Coleman. Before his death, Coleman said her husband had turned his life around, working two jobs and becoming a deacon at their church.
Coleman was also pregnant with the couple's first child, a son she has since had to raise alone.
"He often asks what happened to my dad," said Coleman. "I just say, you know, an accident happened to daddy and daddy's always around smiling at us."
Eight years later, Coleman believes the crime has been forgotten.
"I just believe the case was not investigated, it was not a priority," said Coleman.
Hartford Police, however, said the case is still an active investigation.
"A great amount of work has been done in this case," said Hartford Police Detective Chris May.
Detective May continues to review the case, and said there are persons of interest on police radar.
"We may be closer to an arrest than some people realize," said May.
Before issuing a warrant, police have to make certain that they have the right suspect and enough evidence for a conviction.
"We have one chance to get it right," said May. "We want to do it right."
Coleman is hoping that police soon make an arrest so she can have closure and justice.
"I just keep praying that one day, I will pick up the phone and they'll say, 'you know what, Carleen? We got them'," said Coleman.
The State of Connecticut is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in Coleman's death. Anyone with information on the case should call *111# or the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).