Hartford Police Unsolved Murder
The Murder Of Anthony Gaines
Date: Saturday, May 10th, 2008
Time: 1606 Hours (Shooting Reported To Police)
Location: Capen And Garden Streets, Hartford—218 Capen Street
Cause Of Death: Multiple Gunshot Wounds To The Upper Torso
Manner Of Death: Homicide
Victim: Anthony “Black” Gaines Dob Of 9-28-1984
By: Christopher J Lyons
May 10th, 2008 at 1606 hours, The Hartford police received multiple 911 calls about a shooting that occurred at the address of 218 Capen Street. Police reported that they arrived on scene within minutes and found the victim slumped on the exterior east wall of the Johnson Fish Market. The victim was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his torso, the chest and stomach. The victim had no pulse on scene and multiple bullet casings were observed in the immediate area of where the victim was found. As police were trying to assist the victim there was a large crowd of onlookers and the intersection was congested with vehicular traffic. The crime scene was chaotic and filled with people almost immediately after the shooting took place.
As some police and EMS attended to the victim, identified as 23 year-old Anthony Gaines, other officers searched the area for witnesses. Several people reported hearing multiple gunshots, two witnesses reported seeing the incident. One witness stated that a black male wearing a white tee-shirt and black pants approached Gaines as he sat. This witness heard several gunshots and then he ran into a package store for safety. Another witness told police that immediately after she heard the gunshots she observed a black male running west on Capen Street and then on Enfield Street. This male wore a black NY Yankee hat, a black shirt and blue jeans. She observed this male with a firearm in his hands and fleeing onto Enfield Street on foot. Later in the investigation police learned that the suspect used a vehicle parked in front of the east side of the address as cover for the shooting.
The investigation into this murder stalled because of the lack of citizen cooperation. There were dozens of people in the immediate area of the shooting at the time of the shooting. Police received several possible theories of why Anthony Gaines was killed, they involved street arguments and long-standing problems from his previous incarceration.
It has been six years since Anthony’s murder. Police need assistance from people in the neighborhood who saw the crime. Gaines was shot multiple times in an area where many people were walking and driving. The community should come together to help solve this violent crime and give the Gaines family some justice.
