The father of a black Connecticut lawyer found dead in his car in 2014 is trying to obtain DNA samples from first responders.
Police in Redding, Conn., ruled Gugsa Abraham Dabela’s death by gunshot a suicide. His family say they don’t believe it. They’re suing Redding police over their handling of the case.
“They had decided this was a suicide within a few hours after he was found in the dark, before they had any ballistics, before they had an autopsy, before they knew what happened here, they had already decided this was a suicide. And everything they did after that was just to confirm this was a suicide…There is no evidence that favors suicide over homicide. At this point, we don’t know who shot him, but it appears to our experts that it’s more likely this is a homicide and not a suicide,” said Keith Altman, an attorney for the family.
Altman points to the lack of Dabela’s DNA on the trigger or the bullet, and the presence of a footprint on his back. Police also found unknown DNA on the gun. Altman said they want to check that DNA against Redding’s first responders’ DNA.
The police investigation has drawn heavy criticism from the state NAACP chapter, which has been doing its own review of the death in the affluent, mostly white suburb of Redding.
First responders asked a federal magistrate judge in Hartford to reject the subpoenas. A court hearing is scheduled for December.
