FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(New Haven, CT) - New Haven State’s Attorney John P. Doyle, Jr. announced that the Honorable Elpedio N. Vitale today sentenced Rickey Traynham to 80 years in prison for the 2021 murder of Rondell Atkinson in Woodbridge.
On May 30, 2023, a jury in New Haven Superior Court found Traynham, age 29, of New Haven, guilty of the crimes of Murder, Felony Murder, Robbery in the First Degree and Conspiracy to Commit Robbery in the First Degree. Traynham was also convicted of Criminal Possession of a Firearm and Pistol without a Permit in a separate proceeding that was tried before the court.
According to evidence introduced at trial, Traynham shot the victim, Rondell Atkinson, during a robbery at the Pease Road Playground in Woodbridge on June 7, 2021. Atkinson’s body was found the next day by a jogger. Traynham was implicated in the murder when his co-defendant, Jordan Rudel, confessed their involvement in the robbery to multiple family members who testified at the trial. Traynham also was found in possession of Atkinson’s stolen property as well as the two murder weapons when police arrested him on July 11, 2021.
In fashioning the sentence, Judge Vitale noted the particularly aggravating nature of the murder, recounting that Atkinson, who was begging for his life, “prayed in the dark in a children’s park,” while Traynham shot him “without mercy or hesitation.”
The case was investigated by the Woodbridge Police Department, the Connecticut State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Seth R. Garbarsky and Assistant State’s Attorney Gregory L. Borrelli, with assistance from Inspector Michael Mastropetre.