A man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release for the murders of his 19-year-old girlfriend and a family friend at a home in Bridgeport in 2021.
Tarik Francis, 29, of Bridgeport faced sentencing on Tuesday in Bridgeport Superior Court where Judge Robin Pavia handed down the life term, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice.
The sentencing comes following a week-long trial that ended with a jury finding Francis guilty in the killings of 19-year-old Candace Goodwin and 59-year-old Austin Burgher.
“No sentence is sufficient to redress the loss of two innocent lives, however, the imposition of the most severe sentence in our penal code illustrates the gravity of the crime and the seriousness with which our legislature views them and the commitment with which our office prosecutes them,” Bridgeport Judicial District State’s Attorney Joseph T. Corradino said in a statement.
The verdict against Francis, which was returned on Oct. 1, found him guilty of two counts of murder and a single count each of criminal possession of a firearm and murder with special circumstances. The special circumstances stemmed from both killings happening during the same incident.
DCJ officials said Francis is a previously convicted felon barred from having a gun. He was found not guilty of an attempted murder charge tied to a police officer who responded to the scene.
Officers on Sept. 9, 2021, responded to a home on Platt Street just before 1:30 a.m. on the report of a shooting, according to the Bridgeport Police Department. As officers approached the home, Francis allegedly fired a gun toward them, police said.
A standoff then ensued for about two hours before Francis ultimately surrendered, police said. Once officers were able to get into the home, they found Goodwin and Burgher dead, according to police.
Francis and Goodwin were reportedly dating and living together at the time of the killings. Burgher was a family friend of Francis, officials said.
According to an obituary, a service for Goodwin was held in Baltimore, Maryland, where she grew up. A post dedicated to her memory on gunmemorial.org indicated she attended several schools in Maine before moving to Connecticut.