HARTFORD -- It was a little after 2 a.m. on July 20, 2008 and 15-year-old Jakeem Tully was standing in front of the 24 hour store located at 485 Albany with a group of other young men. A vehicle drove by with several men inside, one of the men inside the vehicle fired several shots at people standing in front of the store.
Jakeem was struck by two bullets, one bullet struck him in the left bicep and the other in the left side of his chest. He fell to the ground seriously wounded as a crowd began to gather. No one called police.
Two men were driving by the scene and stopped when they saw him lying on the pavement needing help. They decided to take Jakeem to the hospital. They placed him in the back seat and drove directly to St. Francis Hospital where they notified emergency room personnel. Both men stayed at St. Francis Hospital and spoke to police about what happened. Police positively identified each of these men and allowed them to leave.
Jakeem was pronounced dead at 2:42 a.m.
This was not the first time that Jakeem had been shot in his young life. On July 4 2008, just 16 days before being killed, Jakeem was shot in another drive by shooting near 274 Albany Avenue. In that case, the driver of the vehicle Jakeem was a passenger in was badly wounded. His name was James “Decky” Brown, a member of the Money Green gang. Jakeem received minor injuries in that incident.
As police investigated this murder, they began to uncover a gang rivalry between two different local street gangs, close in geographical area in the north end of the city. Both gangs were selling drug and most members had known each other for most of their lives. The only difference was where they lived and this made them enemies on the street. This rivalry turned deadly on several occasions with much inter-gang violence.
As Hartford Police conducted their investigation, they were able to identify several people of interest. Police learned that the murder of Jakeem Tully was a mistake. The shooters had been trying to shoot and kill another member of the Money Green/Bedroc street gang and shot Tully instead. Police also learned that the shooting was in retaliation for the murder of Anthony “Chunk” Alexander, a case previously featured on Cold Case.
Police interviewed many individuals in trying to solve this case but received little cooperation from anyone. Despite not much help from the community, no call from the scene when the actual incident happened and a lot of apathy, police were able to identify several strong persons of interest.
It is time for this case to be solved, and justice for Jakeem Tully and his family. Jakeem was a good kid, who was not on police radar. He had never been arrested or convicted in the state of Connecticut. His only mistake was choosing to hang out with the wrong crowd.
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By Christopher J. Lyons