Man Charged In Murder Of UB Student

From Dan Tepfer, CT Post:

A city man was charged Wednesday with murder in the fatal shooting of a grocery store clerk last month.

Courtney Burden, 21, of Colorado Avenue, was charged with the crime while in custody on a prior escape charge.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Superior Court.

Burden is accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Moin Hassan, a graduate student at the University of Bridgeport from Bangladesh on Sept. 18.

Police said Hassan had been working behind the counter at Layla’s Market on Fairfield Avenue when Burden entered the store with the intention to rob it. But instead, they said he shot Hassan once in the chest before fleeing.

Hassan was found lying on the floor behind the counter of the store shortly after the 6:18 p.m. shooting.

Hassan, who had recently moved to the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx from Bridgeport, underwent surgery at Bridgeport Hospital while about 20 international students from UB kept a vigil in a waiting room. He died a short time later at Bridgeport Hospital.

The graduate student in electrical engineering was described by one of his professors as hard-working and ambitious. He had also studied at American International University in Bangladesh.

Hassan’s death was the 19th homicide this year in Bridgeport. He was the fourth UB student or former student to be killed in the past 11 years in the city.

According to Police Capt. James Viadero, on Oct. 13 Burden, who had an outstanding warrant for the escape, was arrested in the Greene Homes housing complex. He was served with the arrest warrant in the murder case at the Bridgeport Correctional Center Wednesday morning.