A New Haven judge sentenced 19-year-old Tremaine Poole to 30 years in prison and 10 years of special parole on Tuesday for the 2024 murder of 17-year-old Daily Jackson, a Riverside Academy student gunned down while walking near his Newhallville home. Poole had pleaded guilty to murder and criminal possession of a firearm, closing out a case that began with an arrest nearly two years ago.
Judge Tracy Dayton handed down the sentence at New Haven state court on Church Street, according to the New Haven Independent. Jackson was shot and killed at around 6:41 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2024, while walking on Shelton Avenue near Huntington Street in Newhallville. Police arrested Poole, who was 17 at the time, for Jackson’s murder in January 2025.
A Case Rooted in a Stolen Gun, Per the Arrest Warrant
According to the arrest warrant, Jackson’s killing may have stemmed from a gun allegedly stolen from Poole by Uzziah Shell, a 16-year-old Riverside Academy student and friend of Jackson’s. Shell himself was shot dead near Goffe and Hudson streets in the Dixwell neighborhood on Nov. 22, 2024, just days before Jackson was killed. At sentencing, Poole addressed the court directly, saying, “I didn’t have a problem or beef with Daily, just his friend.”
Poole’s attorney, Kaprice Bonaiuto Blatche, said her client was 17 at the time of the crime and 19 at sentencing, and that he took responsibility for his actions and apologized to Jackson’s family. She said she, New Haven State’s Attorney Jack Doyle, and Judge Dayton had extensive pretrial discussions, and that she had pushed for a lower plea offer. Bonaiuto Blatche argued the agreed sentence was less than Poole could have received had he gone to trial and been convicted, and she told the court that teenagers generally lack impulse control and the ability to regulate their emotions. She said she believes Poole will be rehabilitated and not a danger to society by the end of his sentence.
Judge Cites Poole’s Age and Remorse
Judge Dayton noted that Poole felt guilty and had learned from the crime, and both the judge and the state considered the offer of 30 years with 10 years of special parole fair given Poole’s age and the facts of the case. While incarcerated at Manson Youth Institution, Poole has been two credits short of earning his high school diploma through the Department of Correction, the outlet reported.
Police Chief David Zannelli said the sentencing decision may provide Jackson’s family some measure of justice and closure, and added that people committing gun violence in the city will be identified and held accountable.
Family Told Parole Could Come After 18 Years
Shelley Mackinnon, one of Jackson’s godparents, told the paper the parole board might release Poole after he serves 60 percent of his sentence — roughly 18 years, including time already served. Mackinnon attended the sentencing hearing with her husband, Colin Ryan, and many family members and friends, and said the past two years have been extremely difficult for the family.
Jaychelle Jackson, Daily’s aunt and legal guardian, described her nephew as “a beautiful young man with an enormous heart.” She said she served as a mother figure who raised him with love and taught him kindness and respect, and that his absence has been loud, his loss painful, and the void impossible to describe. Gloria Jackson, another of Daily’s aunts, did not attend Tuesday’s hearing; she has said Daily’s father lived with her when he was killed in the Hill neighborhood in 2008, and that she had picked Daily up from work just 30 minutes before his own death in 2024.
How Parole Eligibility Works for Young Offenders
Connecticut’s parole system allows people who committed certain offenses before turning 18 to still qualify for parole consideration under state law, according to the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles. A 2023 law expanded that alternative parole track to offenders who were under 21 when they committed their crime and were sentenced before October 1, 2005, as reported by Inside Investigator. The outlet also noted that board members granted only 40 percent of parole applications in 2025.
Poole’s sentence lands within a pattern of lengthy prison terms handed down in recent New Haven-area gun homicide cases. Joseph Dominick was sentenced to 40 years, suspended after serving 30, plus five years of probation, for his role in the 2023 fatal shooting of Shaquille Chazz Pearson, according to courant.com. And Angelo Gibson Jr. received 28 years followed by 10 years of special parole after pleading guilty to murder in the 2022 killing of 16-year-old Joshua Vazquez, who was shot while riding his bike on Valley Street, per wtnh.com.
