Derby police have charged an Ansonia man for the May 12 murder of Javon Zimmerman in Derby.
Cordaryl Silva, 24, was charged Monday with a single count of murder, after attending a court hearing for another pending case at Superior Court in Milford.
The arrest warrant was sealed, according to Lt. Justin Stanko.
Silva is expected to be arraigned at Superior Court in Derby Tuesday.
“He was the suspect from the beginning,” Stanko said Monday.
“There was a number of different kinds of evidence — eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, and video surveillance that all put him at the scene,” Stanko said.
Zimmerman, 22, was shot and killed on May 12 outside RJ’s Cafe on Elizabeth and Fifth streets in downtown Derby.
Carolyn Zimmerman, Javon’s mother, told the Valley Indy days after the shooting that she suspected the shooter was Silva, one of Javon’s cousins.
“I’m glad they found his murderer. I’m very glad of that. I don’t care who it was,” his mother said Monday upon hearing the news. “Maybe I can have some peace now.”
Silva is currently being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Facility in Suffield on a $2 million bond.
Stanko said the warrant will remain sealed to protect the identify of the witnesses who came forward. Silva was the only suspect in the case, Stanko said.
Silva was scheduled to appear at Superior Court in Milford Monday on a violation of probation charge, for which he was arrested May 17 — and has been behind bars since.
The hearing was delayed throughout the day.
When Silva went before a judge in the case just before 3 p.m., Prosecutor Charles Stango said that earlier in the afternoon, he had reviewed and signed a warrant submitted by Derby police charging Silva with murder.
He said he then submitted it to Judge Richard Arnold, who also signed it. Stango said Silva would be served with the warrant at the end of the court appearance.
Stango said that after Silva is arraigned in Derby Tuesday, the case will be transferred back to Superior Court in Milford with a June 26 court date, along with his probation violation.
Silva’s family members declined to comment outside the courtroom.
His underlying probation stems from a 2007 conviction for sale of a controlled substance.
The probation violation warrant cited an assault and breach of peace charge relating to an incident in Ansonia in January 2012. Court documents in that case say a woman accused Silva of punching her after a dispute.
Silva has other convictions, including possession of narcotics, disorderly conduct and a charge for carrying a dangerous weapon.
Police said Zimmerman was involved in a larger crew of drug dealers in the Valley. Three weeks after his murder, police raided 11 homes in five towns and arrested several people.
Zimmerman was a suspect in that drug investigation, according to Ansonia Police Chief Kevin Hale.
Derby police have established a dedicated line where witnesses can talk to investigators about the incident.
The phone number is (203) 619‑1906. Any information will be kept confidential.
Stanko said the Ansonia and Shelton police departments, as well as the State Police Major Crimes Unit, helped in the investigation of the murder.
