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“They are an asset to this community,” Martin said during a ceremony Monday morning at the Government Center. “They are the pride of this community.”
Maxine Gooden, 43, died after she was shot in the torso last Monday at Lione Park. She was gathered with family and friends in Lione’s parking lot at the time of the shooting.
No additional details about the crime or the shooter’s motive were disclosed during the Monday event.
But Martin said Gooden was simply at the park for a social gathering that evening, meeting with friends and possibly selling her well-known home-cooked food.
“We lost a citizen who was doing nothing more than gathering with her friends …and maybe trying to sell little homemade cakes to make a living for her 10-year-old son," Martin said.
Among those honored Monday was Officer Nicole Petrenko, who spotted the getaway vehicle, notified the dispatch center and followed it until other officers could arrive.
Minutes after Petrenko spotted the suspects, police boxed in the Jeep on Strawberry Hill Avenue near the Tully Center and arrested the three men inside at gunpoint.
The three individuals arrested last Monday in connection with the incident: Jhonel Telemin, 21, was charged with first-degree murder, and Deshawn Hayes, 24, and Morris Joel Moore Jr., 23, were charged with conspiracy to murder, police said.
Officials at the ceremony said that Stamford is a safe city, the safest city in New England.
Martin said the rate of serious crime this year from January through July was down over the same period last year. He also said last year’s serious crime was down from the year before.
Martin credited the hard work of police for the decreases in crime.
“The proactive work of the Stamford police department makes all the difference in the world,” Martin said.
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