According to federal officials, a male, age 21, has acknowledged his involvement in multiple horrific shootings and deaths that occurred in Connecticut.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut stated on Thursday, April 25, that Tyjon Preston, a resident of New Haven, had entered a guilty plea to a racketeering charge stemming from his membership in the city’s Exit 8 street gang.
Preston’s guilty plea, according to federal investigators, came after an investigation into an ongoing gang war between members and associates of opposing gangs in the city’s Hill district and the Exit 8 street gang, as part of an effort to combat violence in New Haven.
According to the inquiry, since June 2018, at least three murders and sixteen attempted murders have been perpetrated by members of the Exit 8 gang, which is called after the region served by Exit 8 on Interstate 91 in New Haven.
They have also engaged in narcotics trafficking and shared firearms. According to police, gang members would sometimes steal cars—sometimes from places outside of Connecticut—and use them as cover for violent crimes.
August 2020 saw Preston allegedly assist in the theft of a Cadillac Escalade from a Westport driveway on Richmondville Avenue. As per Westport Police, he was apprehended after a police chase.
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Preston acknowledged his involvement in the following on Wednesday, April 24, when he entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity:
- Conspiring to assassinate rival gang members with other Exit 8 members, including one who was shot and died on May 19, 2021
- By another member; trying to kill a rival gang member and shooting him in the leg on April 27, 2021
- Shooting and killing a 22-year-old woman on July 5, 2021, after she released a rap song with disparaging remarks about Exit 8,
- Shooting and trying to kill rival gang members with other Exit 8 members on May 20, 2021.
Preston may receive a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.
However, as per the conditions of a legally binding plea agreement, all parties concur that, should the court accept the plea, a sentence of between 22 and 30 years is acceptable.
Preston was incarcerated on May 22, 2021.
