Officers with the Newburgh Police Department on Tuesday provided an update on a homicide that occurred in the city in September.
Newburgh Police Commissioner Jose Gomerez said the department arrested a suspect in connection with the homicide that happened Sept. 29 near Washington and Clark streets.
Police say 29-year-old Daquan Corbett was shot and killed, and a 5-year-old boy was injured in the gunfire. After a long investigation, a tip led officers to Lamont Williams, who was in North Carolina when he was taken into custody.
According to law enforcement officials, this was the third reported homicide this year in Newburgh.
Gomerez said he is happy to bring justice to the family of the victim.
“An innocent life was taken, and that person has to be held accountable. On top of that, a 5-year-old child is supposed to be enjoying life, sustains an injury which is more traumatic to the rest of the life of this child and their family,” said Gomerez.
He said what made this case different than others is involvement from the community.
“So, I’m very pleased to find out or see that this case took a different direction because of the collaboration from the community,” said Gomerez.
Newburgh resident Joey Caban is fed up with constantly hearing about shootings happening in or around his neighborhood.
“It's just not stopping. It just keeps getting worse and worse. And like with this shooting, a 5-year-old guy shot who was just riding his bike, you know, anybody, that could have been my son,” said Caban.
Caban started an initiative about a year ago called “Clippers Not Guns” to help bring an outlet for the youth dealing with gun violence in Newburgh. He thinks more needs to be done for people to understand that violence is not the answer.
“At the end of the day, one person is losing a life and the other person is losing life, as well, because now they're going to be in jail the rest of our life,” said Caban.
Williams remained in custody in North Carolina, but will be transported to Newburgh sometime next week, when he will be arraigned, officials said.