New London Superior Court Judge John Newson told 19-year-old Jayden Rogers on Monday that getting shot should be a clear message for him.

Rogers was one of two local teens charged with illegal handgun possession to appear in court on Monday. Newson issued warnings to the two men but ultimately gave them a second chance by granting applications into pre-trial diversionary programs.

They had faced a minimum mandatory prison sentence of one year and up to five years behind bars for carrying a pistol without a permit, a felony.

Rogers was shot in the right thigh in the area of Rockwell Street and Judd Road in Norwich on Aug. 3, 2023, while out meeting a girl he met on an online dating site, records show. Prior to be taken to Backus Hospital for treatment, Rogers had been spotted stashing a gun in a wooded area.

Newson told Rogers that he wasn’t sure why he was carrying a gun but that if he wanted to be involved in “that business,” it was likely to end with a “short trip through those doors,” nodding toward the area where prisoners are brought into the courtroom.

“This time you happen to be the victim,” Newson told Rogers.

Newson issued a similar warning to 19-year-old Ezekial Catala of New London. Catala was arrested by New London police on June 5, 2023, during an investigation into a shooting at the H&T Mini Mart convenience store on Ocean Avenue that left a teen in critical condition.

In the wake of the shooting, Assistant State’s Attorney Christa Baker said New London police found Catala and another man in possession of handguns, driving around the area of Ocean Avenue where the victim was shot.

It turns out Catala was friends with the victim and not involved in the shooting. Catala’s attorney, Robert Kappas, called the incident an aberration for the youth, who has never before been arrested.

Newson cited the lack of previous arrests, ages of the two men and the nature of the offenses in granting the two men’s requests for entry into the accelerated rehabilitation program. The program forgoes prosecution of the cases and allows the teens to walk away with a clean records if they abide by court orders over the next 18 months. The program will last two years for both men and Newson threatened them possible prison time for any crimes committed during that time.

“Mr. Catala, do not come back here while I’m sitting here,” Newson said.

After finding out that Catala had not finished high school, Newson ordered him to obtain a high school equivalency diploma while in the program.

State prosecutors opposed both teens’ admission into the AR program.

g.smith@theday.com