CT man receives 35 years for random killing of 15-year-old Hamden student

A Connecticut man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for shooting a 15-year-old high school student in an apparently random attack two years ago.

The verdict against Jenigh Ward, now 20, was handed down on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to the murder of Elijah Gomez in Hamden in June.

“I'm sad every day. I feel unhappy every day. Every day I don't want to be here anymore. And every time you feel that way, I feel that way too,” Gomez's mother Jennifer Cathcart told Ward at the hearing, according to local Fox affiliate WTIC.

According to police, Gomez was walking home from Hamden High School on May 9, 2022, when Ward and two other people stalked him. Ward pulled out a gun and opened fire, hitting Gomez with several bullets.

While the attack was captured on video and Ward eventually pleaded guilty, the other two men have not yet been identified. Police said the investigation is ongoing.

Authorities were never able to establish any previous connection between Ward and Gomez, even though both lived in Hamden.

“Every day I can't believe what I did. And I hate to blame it on drugs and substance abuse, but I really don't know who I was,” Ward said Wednesday, according to WTIC. “I know there's nothing I could say to Elijah's family to ease their pain. I'm just so sorry for taking away someone you love from you.”

According to prosecutors, in addition to surveillance footage, police were able to link Ward's car, clothing and ballistic evidence from his home to the crime scene.