Death of 16-year-old Tyrel Wheeler marks Springfield's 11th homicide of 2011

The deaths of Rosario and Wheeler are the 10th and 11th homicides in Springfield since the start of the year, and each is blamed on gang activity.

SPRINGFIELD – A 16-year-old boy who Thursday was found shot multiple times in a Forest Park intersection died of his injuries Sunday night, becoming the city’s third homicide in less than a week and the second involving a teen in as many days.

Tyrel Wheeler of Porter Street, Springfield, who had been in critical condition since Thursday died at Baystate Medical Center shortly after being taken off life-support systems, said Springfield police Sgt. John Delaney, aide to Commissioner William J. Fitchet.

His death comes one day after 18-year-old James Rosario was shot to death early Saturday during a house party at his parent’s home at 85 Edgeland St.

Police said Rosario was shot multiple times when a minor altercation got out of hand, and some pushing and shoving quickly escalated to gunfire. His parents were not home at the time.

On July 3, Raul E. Vera, 38, was found shot to death on Lincoln Street.

The deaths of Rosario and Wheeler are the 10th and 11th homicides in Springfield since the start of the year, and each, Delaney said, is being called gang related.

Both Wheeler and Rosario were active members in city street gangs, he said. Neither shooting, however, is directly related to the other, he said.

The only common denominator is that the victims were actively involved in city street gangs, he said.

“The pattern is gang members shooting other gang members. That’s the pattern” he said.

At this point, no one has been arrested in connection with either shooting, although Delaney said he is confident there will be arrests.

Wheeler was found lying in the road at Washington and Meredith streets in the Forest Park neighborhood Thursday afternoon. His mother’s silver Honda was found crashed into a parked car nearby.

Wheeler did not have a driver’s license.

Police believe he was shot somewhere else and drove the car for an unknown distance before either falling or jumping out at Washington and Meredith. The amount of blood inside the car indicated he had been in it for some time.

Police are working to determine where the shooting occurred. No one in the vicinity reported hearing gunshots, and the city’s Shot Spotter gunshot detection system did not record any gunfire, Delaney said.

At this point last year, the Springfield had nine homicides and was en route to a year-end total of 16.

This is only the third time since 2000 that Springfield has had as many homicides this late into the year.

The other years were 2004 and 2007. The final tally for 2004 was 17 homicides, while in 2007 it climbed to 20, which ties a 20-year high.

Since 2005, Springfield has averaged 16.4 homicides per year.

Of the 27 people killed in Springfield in the since Jan. 1, 2000, 17 were 25 years old or younger.

Dejuan Brown of the group Alive with Awareness, Knowledge and Empowerment (AWAKE), which works with young people to avoid violence, said Monday that the deaths of two people so young is disheartening.”

“It’s absolutely frustrating for me and all my staff,” he said. “I wish I could be an optimist or say some inspirational stuff but I am down a little bit.”

Brown said he knew Wheeler for a couple of years after his mother enrolled him in AWAKE programs.

“He was a good kid,” he said.

Delaney said the level of violence involving rival gangs hurts the city’s reputation by leading people to believe the city is more violent than it is.

“The gang problem we have in Springfield is not unlike any other city in New England,” he said. “We are dealing with it.”

He said “Citizens who are not in a gang or do not deal drugs do not have anything to worry about.” He said Fitchet intends to use grant money to put more officers on the street in high-visibility patrols in neighborhoods that have high gang activity. The increased presence has a goal of suppressing the level of violence, he said.

“Police are not clairvoyant. We can’t predict when the next murder will be,” he said. “That would be like predicting when the next fatal car accident will be.”

Rather than predicting accidents, police try to prevent them by having police on the street to enforcing traffic laws and stopping speeders.

Republican reporter George Graham contributed to this report.