22-year-old Bridgeport father shot to death

Flowers and candles are left as a memorial to homicide victim Juvontee Tinsley, 22, outside 26 Ohio Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Sunday, May 10, 2015. Flowers and candles are left as a memorial to homicide victim Juvontee Tinsley, 22, outside 26 Ohio Avenue in Bridgeport, Conn. on Sunday, May 10, 2015. Photo: Brian A. Pounds Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close 22-year-old Bridgeport father shot to death 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT -- Another neighborhood erupted in violence over the weekend, leaving a 22-year-old father with a baby on the way dead from gunshot wounds. The homicide marks the second weekend in a row that someone was killed in Bridgeport.

Juvontee Tinsley, 22, of Bridgeport, died at Bridgeport Hospital after being shot around 9 p.m. Saturday evening by an occupant of a car outside a home at 26 Ohio Ave., city police said.

The homicide came only a few feet away from an apartment building where his 19-year-old girlfriend, Deztiny Bellido, lives with their 2-year-old son. She is pregnant with Tinsley's second child.

Bellido on Sunday afternoon -- which was Mother's Day -- was sitting on the steps of her apartment building with friends near a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers.

"He's a nice guy, a loving family man," Bellido said of Tinsley, who she said once worked for UPS, but was unemployed when he died. He also played football for Harding High School, she said.

Last Sunday morning, two brothers were wounded, and one was killed during an altercation with a man who lived on Ogden Street. Efrain Rivera, of Bridgeport, was charged with the murder of Miguel Martinez, 34, also of Bridgeport.

Tinsley's death was the city's fifth homicide of the year.

The Ohio Avenue neighborhood, a mixture of apartment buildings near East Main Street and tidy, single-family homes with well-kept lawns, was peaceful Sunday as friends of Tinsley dropped off flowers and lit candles at his memorial.

One neighbor farther down the street said the area used to be one of the best in Bridgeport.

"Not now," he said, pointing to the apartment buildings up the street.

"I heard, pop, pop, pop," said the neighbor, who did not want his name published. "I was sleeping. This used to be the best street in Bridgeport. Now, forget it."

According to police, Tinsley walked over to speak with someone in a car parked outside the Ohio Avenue address. One of the occupants of the car shot Tinsley in the chest, police said.

The cause of the shooting may be a lingering dispute. Tinsley is suspected of firing shots at a house at 69 Velvet St. just a few hours before the shooting took place, police said.

Following the shooting, the car fled east on Ohio Avenue and drove through a yard at the dead end. The vehicle was last seen traveling south on East Main Street, police said.

No arrests had been made as of Sunday evening.

Bellido said she was at work when the shooting occurred.

"I don't know anything about it," she said of the details.

"He always held his head up with a smile. Just a beautiful person with a big smile," Bellido said.

Sasha Garcia, who said Tinsley is godfather to her children, described him as a good father.

"He would come and pick up the kids and take them to the park," she said.