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Family of teen killed in Shelton crash grieves loss and urges driver safety

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Family of teen killed in Shelton crash grieves loss and urges driver safety


It was a deadly weekend on the roads with several crashes across the state. That includes one that took the life a 14-year-old girl in Shelton.

“She was our beacon for everything. She was an amazing little girl,” Valentine Philoche said.

Memories are being held close for the family of 14-year-old Chloe Ramsubhag. They’re grieving after she was killed in a crash early Sunday morning on Route 8 in Shelton.

Her 10-year-old brother is finding it difficult to process.

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“It’s just hard not to think about her all the time. Like last night, I couldn’t really go to bed,” Jeremiah Mayes said.

State troopers say the car Chloe was in was struck from behind by a Honda van. It pushed them into opposing traffic where the car was struck again.

Philoche, Chloe’s aunt, is still reeling from the shock of losing her niece.

“She was just a wonderful little human. She deserved everything,” she said.

That crash was one of several deadly accidents that happened that same day. Two people were killed on I-84 in Danbury in the morning.

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A pedestrian was struck and killed on Silas Deane Highway in Rocky Hill later in the evening.

Just after that, one person died on I-84 in Farmington, causing the interstate to shut down in both direction for hours.

The state Department of Transportation said this was a bad weekend for crashes with some factors at play.

“It’s dark earlier, a lot of commuting happening, a lot of people out and about, when it’s pitch black out, even though it’s only 6 o’clock at night,” Josh Morgan, director of communications for the DOT, said.

The DOT said there were 321 road deaths last year on Connecticut roads. That’s down from 2022 where the state saw more than 360 deaths, but up from pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which saw 250 deaths.

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“Historically speaking, we see that 30% of our fatalities in Connecticut can be attributed to speed. Another 30 to 40% can be attributed to impairment,” Morgan said.

Chloe’s family said the string of deadly crashes is unacceptable and they’re urging drivers to make responsible decisions on the road, so everyone is able to make it home safely.

“Be careful of what you’re doing, especially in small cars. Just be careful of what you’re doing,” Mayes said.

Philoche said the family has received thousands of dollars in donations from the community to help pay for funeral expenses. They’re planning to hold a vigil in Waterbury on Jan. 26.

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Connecticut

State police investigating suspicious incident in Burlington

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State police investigating suspicious incident in Burlington


BURLINGTON, Conn. (WFSB) – Connecticut State Police are investigating a suspicious incident at a residence on Case Road in Burlington.

Multiple state troopers and police vehicles were seen at the home conducting an investigation. A viewer reported seeing nine police cars and numerous troopers at the scene.

State police said there is no threat to the public at this time. The investigation is ongoing.

No additional details about the nature of the suspicious incident have been released.

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Ecuadorian national with manslaughter conviction sentenced for illegally reentering United States through Connecticut

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Ecuadorian national with manslaughter conviction sentenced for illegally reentering United States through Connecticut


NEW HAVEN, CT. (WFSB) – An Ecuadorian national with a manslaughter conviction was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for illegally reentering the United States through Connecticut after being deported.

40-year-old Darwin Francisco Quituizaca-Duchitanga was sentenced and had used the aliases Darwin Duchitanga-Quituizaca and Juan Mendez-Gutierrez.

U.S. Border Patrol first encountered Quituizaca in December 2003, when he used the alias Juan Mendez-Gutierrez and claimed to be a Mexican citizen. He was issued a voluntary return to Mexico.

Connecticut State Police arrested him in March 2018 on charges related to a fatal crash on I-91 in North Haven in March 2017. He was using the alias Darwin Duchitanga-Quituizaca at the time.

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ICE arrested him on an administrative warrant in Meriden in August 2018 while he was awaiting trial in his state case. An immigration judge ordered his removal to Ecuador in September 2018, but he was transferred to state custody to face pending charges.

Quituizaca was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in January 2019 and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

After his release, ICE arrested him again on an administrative warrant in Meriden in August 2023. He was removed to Ecuador the next month.

ICE arrested Quituizaca again on a warrant in Meriden on June 28th, 2025, after he illegally reentered the United States. He pleaded guilty to unlawful reentry on July 30th.

He has been detained since his arrest. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case.

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The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat illegal immigration and transnational criminal organizations.



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Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states

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Justice Department sues Connecticut and Arizona as part of effort to get voter data from the states


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Officials in Connecticut and Arizona are defending their decision to refuse a request by the U.S. Justice Department for detailed voter information, after their states became the latest to face federal lawsuits over the issue.

“Pound sand,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes posted on X, saying the release of the voter records would violate state and federal law.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced this week it was suing Connecticut and Arizona for failing to comply with its requests, bringing to 23 the number of states the department has sued to obtain the data. It also has filed suit against the District of Columbia.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the department will “continue filing lawsuits to protect American elections,” saying accurate voter rolls are the ”foundation of election integrity.”

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Secretaries of state and state attorneys general who have pushed back against the effort say it violates federal privacy law, which protects the sharing of individual data with the government, and would run afoul of their own state laws that restrict what voter information can be released publicly. Some of the data the Justice Department is seeking includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.

Other requests included basic questions about the procedures states use to comply with federal voting laws, while some have been more state-specific. They have referenced perceived inconsistencies from a survey from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

Most of the lawsuits target states led by Democrats, who have said they have been unable to get a firm answer about why the Justice Department wants the information and how it plans to use it. Last fall, 10 Democratic secretaries of state sent a letter to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security expressing concern after DHS said it had received voter data and would enter it into a federal program used to verify citizenship status.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, said his state had tried to “work cooperatively” with the Justice Department to understand the basis for its request for voters’ personal information.

“Rather than communicating productively with us, they rushed to sue,” Tong said Tuesday, after the lawsuit was filed.

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Connecticut, he said, “takes its obligations under federal laws very seriously.” He pledged to “vigorously defend the state against this meritless and deeply disappointing lawsuit.”

Two Republican state senators in Connecticut said they welcomed the federal lawsuit. They said a recent absentee ballot scandal in the state’s largest city, Bridgeport, had made the state a “national punchline.”



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