West Haven residents press council for oversight and accountability in investigation of Roya Mohammadi’s death

Several West Haven-area residents and advocates urged the City Council on April 14 to press for oversight and public accountability in the investigation of the death of a young woman identified in remarks as Roya Mohammadi, saying gaps in the inquiry and outreach have left families and neighbors without answers.

Nika Zaresvand, a New Haven resident who said she has attended council meetings about the case for about a year and a half, told the council she brought signatures from West Haven and out-of-state residents demanding “oversight and accountability” in Roya’s investigation and called the pattern of deaths in the city “an overrepresentation” that requires a policy response. “How bad does a situation have to get?” Zaresvand asked the council, saying she has repeatedly raised concerns without seeing remedial action.

Vanessa Suarez told the council she had collected and scanned dozens of signatures from residents and visitors and emailed them to every council member. Suarez said Roya’s family — survivors living overseas — have been left “tortured” by what she described as gaps in the local investigation and by the failure to identify Roya as a domestic-violence victim. “There are consequences to the actions of [the] West Haven police,” Suarez said, adding that the failure to treat the case as domestic violence has harmed the victim’s family.

Eli Calhoun, who identified himself as a law student at Pace University and a master’s student at Yale School of the Environment and said he previously worked at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, pressed the council for a public accountability process. Calhoun said he had reviewed police reports and was “alarmed” by what he described as delayed recovery of surveillance footage and a lack of timely translation services for family members. “There should be a meaningful public accountability process for this,” he said.

Speakers asked the council and the mayor to explain what changes, if any, have been implemented following the case. Mayor Dorinda Borer and other city officials at the meeting said the investigation remains active and that investigators are coordinating with state and federal partners; they also described ongoing city efforts to prevent domestic-violence fatalities.

Mayor Borer said the city is convening a cross-agency coalition — including the police department, board of education, health department and youth services — that is working on prevention, outreach and school-based programs. She said the city recently hired outreach staff (a community outreach navigator, a social worker in the health department and a youth-services worker) and is expanding programming in schools, starting as early as fifth grade, to explain healthy relationships and identify risks. The mayor said the administration is also improving outreach materials and intends a coordinated public-awareness campaign.

Speakers and council members said they welcome prevention work but want clearer public timelines and answers about investigative steps. Several speakers asked whether police had recovered all available video footage, whether translation services were provided to non-English-speaking family members, and why follow-up interviews appeared limited.

The council did not take formal action on the matter during the April 14 meeting. Several speakers said they will continue to press for public reporting and oversight, and city officials said they would brief council committees and provide updates on prevention programs and interagency work.

Ending: Council members and staff said they will continue to meet with community advocates and that the administration intends to publicize prevention and service resources as part of a wider outreach campaign.