Sixteen-year-old Maleak Sweets was shot and killed in Newhallville, New Haven, on the evening of January 29, 2024. ShotSpotter detected gunfire around 7:30 p.m. near the 200 block of Newhall Street; first responders found Sweets on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound and he later died at Yale New Haven Hospital. He was a student at Achievement First Amistad High School and was expecting his first child.

Investigators used video surveillance and license plate readers to link a 2001 Ford Focus seen leaving the scene to 21-year-old Gabriyel Fraser of Waterbury, a former National Guard member. A friend who was with Sweets said they had arranged to meet with others under the pretense of robbing them of marijuana. In May 2025 Fraser was arrested and charged with murder and carrying a pistol without a permit; bail was set at $2 million. Sweets’ family remembered him for his big heart and the future that was taken from him.

If anyone has information about what happened that night or knew Maleak, please share what you know.