HARTFORD, Conn. — The girlfriend of a Hartford homicide victim is sharing his story as police search for the suspects responsible for his death.
Andre Gaston was gunned down outside of his home on Orange Street early Wednesday morning, making this incident the city’s 30th homicide this year and the second just this week.
“I saw him on the ground fighting for his life,” said Stephanie Bonilla, Gaston's girlfriend.
Police said Gaston was clearly targeted.
"A suspect vehicle turned onto Orange Street and stopped, looks like two shooters, multiple rounds; he was struck numerous times. I can confidently say this was a personal attack,” said Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
“I feel like someone just took my heart out of my chest and just crushed it into a thousand pieces,” said Bonilla.
A memorial was put up in Andre’s honor.
“It’s hurting a lot of mothers a lot of people, a lot of loved ones,” said Bonilla.
With another life taken, Bonilla is holding on to what she physically has left of him: his clothes.
“I feel like this is comforting me having something that he had on, that smells like him. I feel like I am representing him right now,” said Bonilla.
She’s representing the person who she said was anything but evil.
“He was humble, outgoing, funny, silly, always joking around type of person,” said Bonilla.
FOX61 asked Bonilla what she wants the people who did this to know.
"Rot in hell, rot in hell." Bonilla said of the ones responsible. "I hate y'all. Hate is a strong word. This pain ain’t going to ever go away.”
This crime scene is just around the corner from a shooting that killed one person and injured two others on Monday. It is less than a half mile between the two crime scenes, but police said that the two have nothing to do with each other.
DeAndria Turner is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. She can be reached at dturner@fox61.com.
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