File photo of a Bridgeport, Conn., police cruiser, taken at the crime scene of the Feb. 14, 2020, homicide.
Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
Bridgeport homicide victim remembered as basketball ‘phenom’
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BRIDGEPORT — As detectives continue to investigate the city’s most recent killing, the victim’s friends and family are preparing for his funeral services.
Robert Dwayne Belton Jr., 37, was born May 1, 1982, to Crystal Kent and Robert Belton Sr. in Bridgeport, according to his obituary. He was fatally wounded in a shooting in Bridgeport on March 27.
The obituary indicated Belton was a long-time city resident, having grown up attending Bridgeport Public Schools.
He was known by his friends and family as a “basketball phenom,” according to his obituary. “He ruled the courts indoors and out.”
Belton worked as a supervisor for the last two years at his Oakridge Waste and Recycling job.
He leaves behind his parents, two daughters and their mother, 10 siblings, 14 nieces and nephews and several others, including aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Belton was predeceased by a sister, his grandmothers, a grandfather and his godmother.
His family will hold visitation Friday morning at Baker-Isaac Funeral Services in the city.
His obituary said funeral services will be private.
On March 27, shortly after 11 p.m., police responded to a ShotSpotter activation for “multiple gunshots” in the area of Wordin Avenue and Cherry Street.
Shortly after, officials said, Belton was dropped off at Bridgeport Hospital by a private vehicle, wounded in the shooting. He was pronounced dead at the hospital “a short time later,” police said.
Belton was the city’s fourth homicide of the year. He was the city’s first killing since Feb. 14.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Jorge Cintron at 203-581-5227.