Adrian Kulesza

City police on Friday arrested a 13-year-old and charged him with murder in the killing of Kaiden Phillips, who was 15.

Phillips, a New Haven resident, was shot and killed on Sept. 27 around Lincoln-Bassett Community School in Newhallville. Phillips’ killing marked the 14th homicide in New Haven this year, already as many as in all of 2024 according to New Haven Police Department data.

Police have not publicly identified the alleged perpetrator — who was arrested at a New Haven residence on Friday — due to his age. The 13-year-old will be tried in juvenile court and all warrants in the case have been sealed, according to New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson. 

“It’s deeply troubling that a 13-year-old shot a 15-year-old,” Mayor Justin Elicker said at a Friday press conference at the police headquarters. “While we can say, and we do, that overall the numbers are going down with violent crime in our city, something like this happens, and it’s clear we have a lot more work to do.”

At the Friday press conference, Jacobson said that both the suspect and victim knew each other and might have had a conflict in the past. At a Sept. 29 press conference, Jacobson said that because most witnesses of the crime were under 18, it had been “extremely difficult” for the police to investigate the case, given that parents are legally required to be present for police interviews.

“It was video evidence and community support and information that led to this arrest,” Jacobson said on Friday. He did not specify what kind of video evidence the Police Department had accessed.

“As the suspect is 13, we are very limited in the information we can release publicly,” Christian Bruckhart, an NHPD spokesperson, wrote in an email to the News.

Regarding youth violence, Jacobson said, “we know that our efforts are working,” and referred to resources the New Haven Office of Violence Prevention provides to address gun violence.

“Yes, we have youth violence, but I think that with everything we have going on in this city, it’s a lot less than it used to be,” he said.

Bruckhart pointed to the Police Activity League, Youth and Recreation Department programs and social services such as those offered by the Clifford Beers Community Care Center.

“We also attempt to engage with youth who are getting arrested through targeted call-ins in collaboration with juvenile probation/parole,” Bruckhart wrote.

Elicker said this arrest marks the start of a “journey of justice” for Phillips’ family and is a “very very sad thing for the young person and his family that took Kaiden’s life.”

The average age of New Haven homicide victims this year has been 30, according to Jacobson, compared to 36 last year. 

Phillips was the second 15-year-old to be killed in the city this year, after Aaron Robinson was killed in April.