Ciera Cece Jones Whitfield, 22, was shot in the head while standing outside her home in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood on July 5, 2021. The shooting occurred in broad daylight at the corner of Truman Street and Clover Place; her birth mother, nearby, initially thought the sound was fireworks before finding Whitfield on the porch. She was taken to hospital in critical condition and died two days later on July 7, 2021, becoming New Haven’s 16th homicide of that year.

Investigators later linked the killing to the Exit 8 street gang. In August 2023 two alleged gang members, Tyjon TJ Preston, 21 at arrest, and Antwan Bandz Hill, 19, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder; authorities said both were believed to have fired during the incident. The motive was reported to involve rap lyrics Whitfield had written that were critical of the gang. The arrests were made as part of a broader federal indictment against the group.

If anyone knew Ciera, her work as an aspiring rapper, or saw activity around Truman Street and Clover Place on July 5, 2021, please share what you know.