New Haven Man, 25, Gets 55 Years In Prison For 2013 Homicide

New Haven CT

07 March, 2022

2:14 PM

Description

NEW HAVEN, CT —In December 2013, Javier Martinez, an 18-year-old Common Ground High School student, was gunned down during a robbery. More than eight years later, a 25-year-old New Haven man was sentenced to serve 55 years in prison following a December 2021 trial, according to New Haven State's Attorney Patrick J. Griffin. A jury found Tyhitt Bember guilty of felony murder, criminal attempt to commit first-degree robbery and first-degree carrying a pistol without a permit, Griffin said in a news release. Evidence from the trial, which took place over six days, Griffin said, detailed that Bember went up to Martinez with a gun in an attempt to rob him and shot the teen. Evidence also showed that Martinez had been shot five times in the back as he tried to run away from Bember, Griffin said. During the sentencing hearing March 3, members of Javier Martinez's family, as well as management and teaching staff from Common Ground High School addressed the court, Griffin said. The judge noted that "Martinez's life was violently taken from him," per the New Haven State's Attorney. Investigators from the New Haven Police Department worked for more than five years on the case before Bember was arrested in July 2019, Griffin said. Griffin thanked the New Haven Police Department for their work on the investigation and commended the work of Executive Assistant State's Attorney John P. Doyle, Jr. and Assistant State's Attorney Melissa R. Holmes, who prosecuted the case.