By Tiffany Williams –
A man from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Shardel Ragin, was found guilty of murder by a jury in Bridgeport Superior Court on Friday. The murder was committed in 2017 when Ragin fatally shot Max Antoine, a man from Stamford, Connecticut. In addition to the murder charge, Ragin was also found guilty of criminal possession of a firearm.
The incident took place on April 20, 2017, when Max Antoine was leaving Tiago’s Bar and Grill located at 211 State St. in downtown Bridgeport, at approximately 12:35 a.m. Ragin was waiting outside in his for Max and another man. When Ragin saw Max leaving the bar, he began to fire shots from his car, and Max was hit in the torso. Max collapsed in the middle of McLevy Park and was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the Bridgeport Police Department, Ragin’s motive for the shooting was revenge for him and his wife being shot in 2016 in Stamford.
Max’s family, who is from Stamford, put pressure on the Bridgeport Police Department over the years to solve the case, and five years after the incident, in April 2022, Ragin was finally arrested.
While detectives from the Bridgeport Police Department continued to investigate Max’s murder, Ragin was still free, and on May 24, 2018, he shot another man, Willie Nance, identified by the police, on Capitol Avenue. The shooting took place after Willie Nance went to talk with a group of people who allegedly shot his cousin. Ragin pulled out a gun, and Nance did the same, after which Ragin shot Nance in the face. Ragin was arrested but posted bail.
The jury in the murder trial of Max Antoine was conscientious in working through the evidence to reach an appropriate verdict, according to the Assistant State’s Attorney, Mary-Caitlin Harding.
Ragin is now scheduled to appear before Judge Robin Pavia in Bridgeport Superior Court on June 20, 2024, and is facing a sentence of up to 70 years in prison.