Sad Story on Capitol Ave.

OK, so this whole thing has been bothering me for about two days now, even apart from the obviously tragic deaths of two young people.

By late Thursday afternoon, from what I can tell, the victims' identities were no longer a secret. West Hartford kids were txting each other about Xion Davidson all night Thursday.

By Friday morning, the police still had not released the names.  Friday noon came and went as well. As the afternoon wore on, it started to feel like something known as "taking out the trash." Any administration, city, state, federal knows the old trick of holding onto a toxic story until Friday evening when the news cycle slows down, especially in the summer.

In a jittery election year, this story is every kind of trouble for the mayor. Hartford mayoral candidates race enormous amounts of money in West Hartford.  This is not a good thing, but there simply isn't a lot of money in Hartford. The big danger is that it may result in a winner who feels more obligated to out-of-town donors than to his constituents. 

If you're raising money in West Hartford, you don't want to be explaining how Hartford problems reached out and killed a West Hartford kid.  Worse still, it was a kid people knew. A kid people clapped and cheered for at football games.

If your opponents are raising money in West Hartford, you don't want them to be able to promise to do something about whathappened on your watch.

I hate even to be mentioning that stuff, because the tragedy of these two lost lives ought to be just that. A free-standing tragedy.

But on Friday, I started to have a sickening feeling that somebody was trying to sweep as much of it under the rug as would fit there, by dragging out the process of releasing the names and the West Hartford connection, which (as I say) was common knowledge on the streets 24 hours before that.

We finally got the release at 5:30 p.m., which is textbook take out the trash timing. I truly do hope this is not what it looks like, because that would be sad, sad commentary on the people involved.

I'm sure the mayor and the cops will angrily deny that the delay was political. I wouldn't believe this particular chief if he told me the sun rose in the East. As for Eddie Perez, well, he is often badly advised on matters like this.

Second thing. I know the neighborhood.  I'll go pace it off at some point this weekend.   But those two bodies were quite a distance from one another.  Which is not typical for people shot in the course of trying to commit a robbery. Also, of course, people who shoot other people while repelling a robbery often file reports about it.  I'm no expert in this stuff, but the facts suggest an encounter with somebody acting a little more proactively. Almost as though somebody not only repelled a robbery attempt but then chased down the two would-be robbers, seized them and executed them.

Comments

[interstatement]

I live in Frog Hollow and work in Parkville a few dozen yards from where the bodies were found.

Over the past several years I have been threatened from time to time. I have been grabbed by the throat until I struck my assailant in the head with a big stick. I have jumped up with a hammer or a jack handle at the ready more times than I can recall, and it has saved my hide more than once. Just over a month ago, my neighbor fatally stabbed one of a pair of robbers invading his own home. I have agonized over these desperate knee-jerk situations, and what might happen the next time.

I tend to agree there is a likelihood that these two young men were chased down and executed, because I have known of instances where that would have been a likely outcome. If you kill one of two assailants, even in self-defense, the other one knows who you are and you live in fear of retaliation until the other one is caught, if that even happens. Then there are the criminal's family and friends. The aforementioned neighbor endured repeated threats from the family of the deceased robber. All this punishment for someone who took a chance on making this city a better place for himself and his neighbors.

I hope and pray every day that I am never thrust into a violent situation where "kill or be killed" is the choice. If I ever did, I'd be afraid to even report it for fear of retaliation. I know I couldn't rely on the police for any sort of protection, and I share your distrust for the current Chief. I'm at a loss as to where to begin to address the many problems that point the key players, young and old, toward these tragic outcomes.

This city is worth saving, but I feel lonely and abandoned along with the good people around here trying to do their part against overwhelming odds. I put all of my meager savings, earnings and effort into establishing a home here, and I now regret it. I feel trapped now, and I'm sorry to say I'd probably leave in a heartbeat if I could. This is a special place to me, and there are some incredibly precious people here who have come to mean the world to me, but I just want to load them in a bus and go away. This can be a brutal place to care about, and it is destroying me.

[Richard]

My guess is the same: they either targeted or stumbled into a dealer as their intended victim.

I know the gangland style execution and the gang involvement of one kid further complicated things.

I am sure the first question being asked is: "Is this a gang initiation ritual"? Who invaded who's turf? A couple of dumb free lancers tried to muscle up and it turned into 'Pulp Fiction'?

The police have since discounted this but there's something there we don't know yet.

As far as the cover up goes it really pales when compared to the pass the Courant gave Eddie Perez over parking lot patronage. That's the issue of the year IMHO. Why is Eddie getting a pass from the Courant and not going to jail or being forced to resign? A proactive paper would never let that issue drop and calls for his resignation would be a cover page every day.

[This2WillPass]

I am a very close friend of Xion's mother. We speak to each other on a daily basis, so I am very familiar with the circumstances of this young man and his mother.

This entire event leaves me baffled as I know that Xion was a decent kid who came from a decent, loving,caring home. His mother is an intelligent, articulae individual who attended the football games, worried about school performance and took the time to make grill cheese sandwiches when her son adsked.

Xion's mother worked two jobs to make sure that he had a decent life. As a matter of fact, she had taken a second jobs just weeks prior to this incident which explains her not being aware that he was out at such late hours.

I feel that knowing the above mentioned things will allow indviduals to know that this was not just another kid on the streets without direction, but a yooung man whose life story is worth way more than a few political points.

Interestingly, I have discussed the same points that you have commented on with other friends concerning the coverage of this story. I know for a fact that the identity of those boys was known before 10 A.M, Thursday morning. And, a day later, they were still unidentified. How can that be when the newspapaer state that a prescription belonging to one victim was on site? And, I find it a bit suspicious that both were identified as being in their early 20's. Specifically, Xion's age was mysteriously released as 17, which would make things a little less harsh. And,I find it amazing that the police have concluded that this was a botched robbery without conducting a full investigation. I can understand speculation at this point due to the circumstances, but not definitive outcomes.

At any rate, thank you for even considering other sides to this story.

[Bob Morris]

The Courant said the murders were "execution-style".

My guess:

They attempted to steal drugs and money from a dealer, the plan backfired, and the dealer executed them.

Whatever the reason, someone was seriously unhappy with them.