Police say the victim was trying to sell a vehicle when the robbery attempt escalated.
HAMDEN, CT — Three juveniles have been charged in the shooting death of an 18-year-old who was killed in daylight on Mix Avenue last month, a case that police say began as an attempted robbery while the teen was trying to sell a vehicle.
The arrests, announced Feb. 13, came after weeks of investigation into the Jan. 17 killing near Hamden Plaza, an incident that rattled residents and drew renewed calls from town leaders for youth outreach and violence prevention. Police have not released the suspects’ names because of their ages and said parts of the case remain under investigation.
Investigators said the 18-year-old, identified by his family as Keyvon Washington Archibald, drove to the 500 block of Mix Avenue around 11:30 a.m. to meet someone connected to a possible car sale. Hamden police said three suspects approached the vehicle, and one got inside. The teen was shot during what police described as a robbery attempt that escalated quickly. The vehicle later crashed into bushes, and the teen was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Detective Hailey Zarzuela said three juvenile suspects have been arrested and charged with felony murder, murder, first-degree attempted robbery and criminal possession of a firearm. Officials did not disclose the youths’ exact ages, where they live, or whether investigators recovered a firearm, saying those details could compromise the continuing investigation and are restricted by juvenile privacy rules. Police also declined to say whether additional arrests are expected.
Police Chief Edward Page Reynolds used stark language at the announcement, saying the town would pursue those responsible. “We will relentlessly pursue you, until you are brought to justice,” Reynolds said, calling the killing a “heinous offense.” Mayor Adam Sendroff said the violence “has no place in Hamden” and urged the community to do more to support young people, saying the town must engage youth and expand prevention efforts alongside enforcement.
Family members attended the briefing, and Washington Archibald’s mother, Keyna Washington, said the arrests brought some relief while underscoring the loss. “He wasn’t a bad kid,” she said. “He was a really good kid and a lot of people care about him.” She has said her son worked at FedEx and had plans for his future that centered on helping his family, including a dream of earning enough to buy a home for his grandparents.
The case began with a chaotic scene that morning, according to relatives and police accounts. Keyna Washington has said she realized her son was the victim after receiving an automatic crash alert connected to her vehicle and then seeing the damaged car at the scene. She said police later found her son’s cellphone inside the vehicle. “You can tell the outcome by the way the car looked,” she said earlier, describing the car as having crashed into bushes after the gunfire.
Police have offered limited public detail about how the suspects and victim came to be in the same place at the same time. Investigators have said the teen drove to Mix Avenue to meet someone, but his mother said she did not know who he planned to meet or why the meeting was arranged there. That uncertainty has fueled anxiety in a town where residents say routine errands and everyday meetups can suddenly carry real risk.
Authorities emphasized that the case moved quickly in part because of cooperation across agencies and tips from the community. Detective Jomo Crawford said Hamden police worked with New Haven, West Haven and Meriden police, as well as Connecticut State Police and federal partners including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Officials did not describe what evidence led to the arrests, but they credited coordination and sustained investigative work for identifying suspects.
The shooting also came during a stretch of violent incidents in town over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. Police said that hours before the Mix Avenue killing, a security guard was wounded by gunfire while trying to break up a fight at The District Studios on Treadwell Street. Officials have said they have not determined whether the two shootings are connected. In separate incidents that weekend, police responded to a stabbing involving multiple women and to a report of a man in a mental health crisis who was said to have a sword. Those events, while not tied to the homicide, added to a sense of unease that residents have described as building over time.
Some Hamden residents said the fact that three youths were charged in a deadly robbery attempt has sharpened concerns about how early violence is showing up and how often guns are involved. The case has also pushed difficult questions into public view: how disputes or planned meetups are arranged, how teens and young adults end up in contact with armed peers, and what role social media and quick money can play in escalating confrontations.
Officials have been careful about the legal path ahead because juvenile cases in Connecticut often proceed under special rules, and parts of the process can be confidential. Depending on a juvenile’s age and the charges, Connecticut law allows certain serious felony cases to be transferred into adult criminal court, a move that can change how the case is handled and what information becomes public. Hamden police did not say Friday whether any transfer decision has been made in this case, and prosecutors did not discuss expected timelines for court dates at the briefing.
For now, police say the central allegation is that the teen was lured or drawn to Mix Avenue by the prospect of selling a vehicle, only for the meeting to turn into an attempted robbery. Investigators have not said whether the car was listed online, whether a specific buyer was identified, or whether the suspects knew the victim before the day of the shooting. They also have not said whether the victim had cash on him or whether anything was taken.
Washington Archibald’s mother has described her son as a Boston native who moved to Hamden as a child and spent years in scouting. She has said he loved cooking and attended Job Corps in New Haven as a culinary student. Relatives and supporters who have spoken publicly about him have described a young man they say was focused on work, family and plans for adulthood, and they have asked investigators to keep pressure on those responsible.
Town officials, meanwhile, framed the arrests as only one piece of a larger challenge. Sendroff said the community must pair enforcement with prevention efforts, and he spoke about expanding opportunities for young people and strengthening support systems that can keep teens from drifting into violence. Police leaders echoed that message while stressing accountability for violent crimes, saying Hamden would continue working with regional and federal partners to address illegal guns and repeat violence.
As the case moves forward, police said they will continue pursuing leads, and they have not ruled out additional arrests. Officials have not scheduled a new public briefing, but they said they would share more information when it can be released without harming the investigation or violating juvenile privacy rules.
The killing remains under investigation, and the next major milestone is expected to come in court proceedings tied to the juveniles’ arrests and any decisions about where the case will be heard. For Washington Archibald’s family, the arrests mark a step in the process, but not an end to the grief that began on a late-morning Saturday on Mix Avenue.
Author note: Last updated Feb. 15, 2026.