Arrest Made In Zion Hill Murder

An arrest has been made in the murder of a New Haven man here Sunday night, police said this morning.

Police plan to announce details of the arrest at an 11 a.m. today press conference at Police Department headquarters.

The victim, of Jose Chevere, 28 of Putnam Street in New Haven, was fatally shot in a wooded area off Zion Hill Road, near Wheelers Farm Road, not far from Interstate 95.

Bridgeport police found the car the victim was believed to have been driving, a 2000 tan Honda Accord, with Connecticut license plate 797 XNT, in the 400 block of Newfield Avenue of that city.

The car was then "forensically reviewed as evidence," according to Offier Vaughan Dumas, the police spokesman.

The fatal shooting was the first homicide in Milford since July 12, 2007, when James Street killed a roommate in a local motel. The South Carolina man was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison.

Some residents in the Zion Hill Road area said the murder scene has been a hangout for teens and that trash, including liquor bottles, is routinely strewn around.

Packaging from a decongestant used to manufacture crystal meth, a hallucinogenic drug, has also been found there, neighbors said.


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Update 2:00 P.M

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Police today arrested a 22-year-old West Haven man in the murder of a New Haven man who was gunned down on Zion Hill Road Sunday evening.

Police said they expect to make additional arrests, and would reveal very few details about the arrest or a motive except to say it was a “drug related incident.”

Eusebio Melendez-Ventura, of 162 Spring St., was arrested Thursday morning and held on $1 million for the murder of Jose Chevere, 28, of Putnam Street, on Sunday.

Melendez-Ventura was charged with felony murder, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, and conspiracy on both charges.

Police spokesman Officer Vaughan Dumas said at a press conference at police headquarters this morning that the incident is drug related, and Chevere knew his attackers. Police learned that Chevere went to Melendez-Ventura’s home Sunday evening and was taken at gunpoint by Melendez-Ventura and another individual to Milford, Dumas said.

He added there is evidence that Chevere was physically assaulted prior to being shot to death on Zion Hill Road. Dumas declined to reveal anymore specifics of the crime because additional arrests are expected.