HARTFORD, Conn. — Family and community leaders gathered in a vigil on Webster Street, after one man was gunned down at the end of last month.
27-year-old Michael Dudley died in a shooting on January 29th of this year. Hartford Police announced a suspect, Jordan Register, was arrested in Massachusetts and is awaiting extradition.
Emotions were still high during the vigil as the family of Dudley honored his memory.
Kearnan Collins said, "Michael was not another statistic, he was not another person that lived in the streets or anything like that he was just a great person that like to look out for his friends and his family, and he died doing exactly that."
Collins is Dudley’s cousin and says Dudley died protecting his friend during an altercation this past month.
Hartford police have not released why the altercation started but sent out a statement announcing the arrest of Register.
Police have charged Jordan Register with murder going on to say they found Register in Springfield, Massachusetts, and took him into custody without incident.
Community leaders say they hope this arrest brings the family peace.
During the vigil, Rev. Henry Brown said, "So many families don't have the closure that you have, so many people who don't know who killed their son."
Dudley's family say they are still hurting, but they will always remember the good times spent with Michael.
Collins said. "His laugh I love his laugh... It could light up a room, it was amazing."
Dudley’s younger brother, Aneudi Suarez, said, "His smile, his laugh, he was always happy; there was never a dull moment there was never a dull moment with Michael."
Suarez says he's still trying to cope with this loss.
Suarez said, "At first when I found out I shut my phone off... I couldn't even like... I started panicking because I read one little sentence and I shut my phone right off. I called my brother, my brother started freaking out and that just made me freak out, and eventually, I had to deal with it."
The family may be hurting but say they will get through this together.
Collins said, "It's really bad right now, but that's because he touched so many people. He was so close with everybody and was so loved, other than that everybody has each other and we know that, so we are going to get through it."
Jordan register is still being held in Massachusetts awaiting extradition.
He's currently being held on a 1-point-7 million dollars bond.
FOX61 will stay up-to-date on this case and once we learn more, we'll get back to you.