Waterbury’s “960” Gang Leader Sentenced To Life, Plus 10 Years
Sunday, September 13, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 4 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BRIDGEPORT, CT.- Last Tuesday, a 27-year-old Waterbury, Connecticut, man and leader of the Waterbury violent “960” street gang, learned he would die in federal prison, after being sentenced for his conviction of gang-related racketeering charges.
According to U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan, on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, Zaekwon McDaniel, also known as “Gap” and “Yung Gap,” 27, formerly of Waterbury, Connecticut, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley to Life in Federal Prison, and to be immediately followed by a mandatory 10 year consecutive term of imprisonment for his conviction related to his leadership of the 960 gang, a violent Waterbury street gang.
According To Court Documents
According to court documents and statements made in the District Court, in an effort to address the continuing drug trafficking and related violence plaguing the streets of Waterbury, Connecticut, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Waterbury Police Department had launched an investigation into multiple Waterbury-based gangs, including the violent 960 gang.
On September 14, 2021, a Federal Grand Jury for the District of Connecticut returned a 36-count indictment charging McDaniel and 15 other 960 gang members with various federal offenses, including racketeering, murder, attempted murder and assault, firearms possession, narcotics trafficking, and obstruction of justice crimes.
Evidence Presented At Trial
During the trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented evidence that proved beyond a reasonable doubt that on October 31, 2017, 960 gang members were involved in a drive-by shooting in the area of Porter and Bank Streets in the City of Waterbury in an attempt to murder members of a rival gang. An individual was shot and seriously wounded in the shooting. During the investigation, Investigators recovered 17 shell casings from four different weapons at the scene, and were also able to identify the vehicle used by the 960 members in the shooting. McDaniel’s DNA was recovered from the steering wheel of the vehicle.
On November 22, 2017, McDaniel and 960 gang members, Malik Bayon and Tahjay Love, shot at Clarence Lewis and Antonio Santos, who were in a car at a local Waterbury restaurant. Lewis sped from the scene at a high rate of speed and crashed into a house at the intersection of Wolcott Street and Dallas Avenue in Waterbury. Lewis, 22, and Santos, 20, were pronounced deceased at the scene. Shell casings connected two of the firearms used during the shooting, and to the shooting that occurred on October 31, 2017, and McDaniel’s DNA was found on a gun magazine that was dropped at the restaurant.
On December 29, 2017, just shortly before 9:00 a.m., McDaniel shot and seriously injured the father of a rival gang member who was taking out the trash in front of his residence. 960 gang members video-recorded themselves wearing masks at the scene just minutes before the shooting. To promote 960, McDaniel and other 960 members made rap videos that glorified gang violence, firearm possession, and drug dealing. Many of the rap lyrics were tied to criminal conduct committed by 960 members. McDaniel has been detained since his initial arrest on January 3, 2018.
Jury Returns Guilty Verdicts
On February 14, 2024, a jury found McDaniel, Tahjay Love, and Malik Bayon guilty of conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity with special circumstances, murder in violation of the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering statute, and two counts of causing death through the use of a firearm and in relation to a crime of violence.
The jury also found McDaniel guilty of attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and carrying and using a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; Love guilty of obstruction of justice; and Bayon guilty of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin and 40 grams or more of fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute narcotics, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense.
Love and Bayon remain in federal custody and are currently awaiting sentencing.
