Date: Fri 16-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Jason-Gowdy-murder

Full Text:

Two Charged In Shooting Death Of Sandy Hook Teen

(with cuts)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

Police charged two men Tuesday in the shooting death of a 15-year-old Sandy

Hook boy who was accosted and robbed while walking along Riverside Road near

Cherry Street on the night of Saturday, July 10.

About 9 pm, Jason Gowdy, 15, of 21 Pine Street and two unidentified friends

were walking along Riverside Road when a black Chevrolet Beretta pulled up

alongside them, police said. Roberto Lugo, a/k/a Ruperto Lugo, 19, of 3699

Broadbridge Avenue, Stratford, who was a passenger in the car, got out of it

and approached the three boys, police said.

A brief confrontation ensued and Lugo then allegedly shot Jason twice in the

head in the robbery.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps rushed Jason to Danbury Hospital where

he was pronounced dead at 9:28 pm.

A spokeswoman for the chief state medical examiners's office said Monday

Jason's death was ruled a homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the head.

On Tuesday, police charged Lugo, and the driver of the car, Alejandro

Melendez, 19, of 316 East Pasadena Place, Bridgeport, each with felony murder,

first-degree robbery, and conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery.

Convictions on the charges are punishable by life imprisonment.

Both men were arraigned under heavy security Tuesday afternoon in Danbury

Superior Court and were each placed under a $1 million bond.

Melendez's hair was shaved. He wore a long, yellow T-shirt. Lugo had dyed his

hair and eyebrows orange, apparently as a disguise.

They were being held at the Bridgeport Community Correctional Center for

August 3 court appearances in Danbury. Probable cause hearings in the case are

scheduled for September 2.

Public defender Paul Eschuk is representing Lugo. Special public defender

Dennis McDonough is representing Melendez.

The arrest warrant affidavits, in which police explain to a judge why they

should be granted arrest warrants, were sealed by Judge Dennis Eveleigh. Judge

Eveleigh allowed the two accused men's attorneys access to the documents.

In courtroom proceedings, it was learned Melendez lives with friends and his

mother, has one child, and is single. He no longer is on probation from

previous charges. Melendez was charged in the murder case for having provided

the gun that Lugo used in the shooting.

According to information presented in court proceedings, Lugo lives with his

parents, has been convicted on past criminal charges and was preparing to flee

the area. Lugo was charged with being the shooter in the Gowdy murder. When he

was arrested on the murder charges, he was being held on a $50,000 bond in

connection with unrelated charges.

As Lugo and Melendez were being arraigned in court, David Gowdy, the father of

Jason Gowdy, and Mildred Gowdy, who is Jason's mother and David's ex-wife, sat

at the rear of Courtroom 2. Ms Gowdy sobbed heavily. They were accompanied by

Mildred Gowdy's father and by attorney Joseph Dimyan, who is a family friend.

Jason lived with his father, his father's wife, and two stepsisters at 21 Pine

Street in Sandy Hook.

Search

Police said they interviewed several witnesses to the shooting and developed

leads in the intensively-investigated case. They later located the Chevrolet

in Stratford and seized it July 11.

The murder investigation led to Lugo, who was arrested in New Haven and

transported to Bridgeport on an outstanding warrant on unrelated Bridgeport

charges, police said. Lugo was transported to Danbury Superior Court July 13

where he was arrested for the murder, police said.

On July 13, at approximately 12:40 am, Melendez was arrested at his home,

police said. Police said they seized a pistol in the search. "It will be

analyzed at the state police lab" to determine if it is the murder weapon,

said Detective Robert Tvardzik, the lead investigator in the case. He would

not describe the handgun.

Police have been tight-lipped about the case, providing few details on what

took place during the shooting.

"We don't wish to comment at this time because the investigation is ongoing,"

said Detective Tvardzik. "We're still investigating... We can't make comments

about aspects of the ongoing investigation," he said.

Family Ties

David Gowdy says he was very close to his son Jason.

"He was a big kid. He was just a big puppy dog," he said of his son who stood

six feet, two inches tall, and weighed 220 pounds. "He was nothing but a big

teddy bear."

"That kid had so much life. He had more life than 20 people put together," he

added. "He was always happy."

"We always talked. I was his best friend. He was my best friend," Mr Gowdy

said. "He was so full of life, always laughing, always fun."

Mr Gowdy said that he had moved to Sandy Hook in 1997 to get away from Danbury

and the urban problems of the city. "We moved here to get away from stuff like

this," he said in an interview at his home Tuesday afternoon. Mr Gowdy termed

the Pine Street area "a nice quiet neighborhood where we didn't have to

worry." Jason was murdered about one-half mile from his house.

Jason, who was in his second year at Henry Abbott Regional Technical School in

Danbury, was interested in joining the military, Mr Gowdy said.

"He wanted to go in the Marines, [into] special forces," he said.

Mr Gowdy, 38, a union carpenter, explained he had been away at Lake Compounce

Amusement Park in Bristol July 10 at an outing. When he returned to Sandy Hook

about 9:45 pm, he saw a roadblock set up by police on Riverside Road. He later

learned from a neighbor that a teenager had been shot and then he realized it

was his son, Jason.

Mr Gowdy learned that there were four people in the Chevrolet -- Lugo,

Melendez and two girls.

Mr Gowdy said the four apparently had been traveling to the Gowdy residence to

commit a robbery. The four knew of the house because one of the girls, who had

met Jason the night before, had been to the house, Mr Gowdy said. Detective

Tvardzik would not comment on whether the girl who had visited the Gowdy

residence July 9 was one of the girls who was in the car the following night.

When the four were driving down Riverside Road, they spotted Jason and his two

friends, turned the Chevrolet around, stopped, and Lugo then got out of the

car, Mr Gowdy said.

Lugo apparently wanted a gold chain that Jason wore around his neck, Mr Gowdy

said.

The only reason that Jason was shot was because he was unwilling to give up

the chain, which held religious crosses which Mr Gowdy and his ex-wife had

given him and which he held dear, according to Mr Gowdy.

"It was robbery, robbery gone bad," he said. "I'm just glad [Lugo] didn't get

the other kids."

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal said he sent his heartfelt sympathies to the

family and friends of Mr Gowdy. Mr Rosenthal credited the work of town and

state police in the case.

"This points out that senseless acts of violence can take place anywhere.

We're not immune to this gun culture and violence that seems to be permeating

these days," the first selectman said.

Burial Arrangements

Mr Gowdy said he has selected a burial plot for Jason in St Rose Cemetery, not

far from his house. Burial was scheduled for Thursday.

"It's just beautiful up there," he said. Mr Gowdy had been teaching his son to

drive at the nearby cemetery.

Jason would have turned 16 on July 25. "We already had the party planned for

him," Mr Gowdy said.

Jason Gowdy was born in Danbury, July 25, 1983. He attended schools in New

Milford and was presently a member of the tenth grade class at Henry Abbott

Regional Technical School of Danbury.

In addition to his parents, he is survived by two step-sisters, Monique

Samuelson and Antigua Samuelson, both of Sandy Hook; his paternal

great-grandmother, Adell Nahom of Danbury; his maternal grandparents, Ida and

Raul Morales of Puerto Rico; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

He was predeceased by his paternal grandparents, Norman A. and Emily M.

(Nahom) Gowdy.

The Rite of Burial took place on July 15 in St Ann's Melkite Greek Catholic

Church, 181 Clapboard Ridge Road in Danbury, with the Rev Fr Basil R.A. Parent

officiating.

The Jowdy-Kane Funeral Home, 9-11 Granville Avenue, Danbury, was in charge of

arrangements.