In the early morning hours of February 4, 2023, what first looked like a single-vehicle crash on Route 7 in Norwalk was reclassified as a homicide. Responders found 35-year-old John Gavilanes unresponsive in the driver’s seat; the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later determined he died of gunshot wounds to the head and torso. State police said the scene indicated the death was not the result of crash injuries and described the incident as isolated with no ongoing threat to the public.

Gavilanes was a father of two young children; his family remembered him as full of life and devoted to them. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage, cell phone records, and social media activity, and said those materials suggested the killing had been planned and caused by others. Two people were charged in connection with the death. If anyone knew John, his movements that night, or has information that could help, please come forward.