Gugsa “Abe” Dabela, 35, was a young lawyer with a promising future when he was gunned down on the side of the road late one night in April 2014 in Redding, Connecticut. Abe was driving to his home in Redding after a night out at a local pub, when he was in a slow speed, rollover car accident. The Redding Police Department (RPD) allege they found him suffering from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, yet no crime scene investigator was called to the scene. Instead, within hours the RPD issued a press release declaring the gunshot wound self-inflicted and never initiated a homicide investigation.

Some of the suspicious circumstances surrounding Abe’s death and the handling of the investigation by the RPD and Danbury State’s Attorney are:

- The police claim that Abe shot himself with his own gun; however, DNA recovered from its trigger does not match Abe.
- Abe’s hands were never tested for gunshot residue, and when his jacket was tested, the test was negative.
- Abe’s jacket had a muddy footprint on the back.
- The bullet submitted to the crime lab had no DNA or blood on it
- Neither the bullet nor the casing could be positively matched to Abe’s gun. 
- No bodycam or dashcam footage from any officer or police vehicle at the scene has ever been released.
- Six months after Abe’s death, the medical examiner ruled Abe’s death a suicide based solely on statements from the police, not from the findings of the autopsy.
- Both the first responding officer and the police chief allegedly left town immediately after Abe’s death, and neither has ever met with the family.
- The State’s Attorney released two highly unusual public statements regarding this death: first, he stated that there is no evidence of a conspiracy relating to Abe’s death, and second, he declared Abe’s death was not a homicide despite a lack of a thorough investigation.

In the six years following Abe’s death, Abe’s parents have tirelessly sought justice for their son and repeatedly called for the State to conduct a thorough and unbiased death investigation, but they have repeatedly been shut down, silenced, and stonewalled. 

We write this petition to say Enough is Enough. We demand better from our law enforcement officers, our judicial system, and our legislators. We stand with the Dabela family and demand that all those tasked with protecting and serving us appoint an independent, unbiased prosecutor to open criminal inquiries into:

1. The circumstances surrounding Abe’s death.

2. The handling of the investigation by the Redding Police Department and the Danbury State’s Attorney.

3. Public corruption and the cover-up orchestrated by officers of the Redding Police Department and the Office of the State’s Attorney for the Danbury Judicial District of Connecticut to conceal the truth about Abe’s death.

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Please sign this petition to help us get #Justice4Abe! 

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