'Crushed': Seabrook mom wants the man who allegedly shot her son to face a murder charge

SEABROOK — As Garrito Fort is held without bail after claiming self defense, the mother of the man he allegedly shot to death last month is hoping he will face a murder charge.

Anna Randall, 63, said her 35-year-old son Chris Coletti was an “awesome father” to three young girls and had been in addiction recovery for four years when he was shot and killed Nov. 1 in the driveway at 19 Boynton Lane.

Fort, 37, was arrested after allegedly fleeing the scene where Coletti was found deceased. Also shot and wounded was Richard Janvrin, 50, who was hospitalized but survived.

Fort is being held without bail in this case after prosecutors filed separate, unrelated felony weapons charges. Though it is alleged he shot Coletti and Janvrin, police have not charged him with the shootings while Fort's self-defense claim is being investigated. Randall said she hopes that changes as the case proceeds.

More: Bail denied for Seabrook man charged in connection with fatal shooting

“I’m expecting, I hope, you know, that there’s going to be a murder charge and an attempted murder on Rich,” said Randall, who has lived in Seabrook for 16 years. “I’m hoping that’s the case.”

'You have no idea just how lost I am'

Randall said she was “crushed” by the loss of her son, whose funeral she said drew at least 240 people based on the guest book, many of whom she had never met. She said his three daughters, ages 16, 12 and 10, miss him dearly, and the youngest sang at his memorial service. Randall described him as a fun-loving person who worked hard, as well as a “mama’s boy” who talked to her several times a day on the phone or visited.

“You have no idea just how lost I am,” she said. “My son meant the world to me.”

Coletti was the second of Randall’s three children, and the child she said she grew closest to over the years. They lived in Salisbury, Massachusetts, for much of Coletti’s youth before moving to Seabrook 16 years ago. As “Salisbrookers,” she said, they were always connected to both communities in the two border towns.

Randall said Coletti struggled as a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder but overcame it through activities like athletics. She said he won a New England-wide taekwondo competition at age 12 and was a black belt by 14.

“Whatever he put his focus on, he excelled in it,” she said.

Coletti's first daughter, Jasmine, was born when he was turning 19. As he became an adult, he started working in roofing and painting, according to Randall. She said he was a single father for a while before he met the mother of his two other daughters, Alexia and Mikeala.

Randall said Coletti eventually divorced and had most recently been dating a woman he expected to marry. He had over the years struggled with addiction, she said, but had been in recovery for four years. He loved spending time with his girls, she said, whether teaching them to ice skate or taking them on trips across country to places like Niagara Falls or Florida.

“He was the fun dad,” Randall said.

The day everything changed

Randall, a retired counselor at a methadone clinic, said on Nov. 1 she was preparing for another day working her recent part-time gig delivering food for DoorDash when she got a call from Coletti’s close friend Anthony Janvrin, the brother of Richard Janvrin.

“He called me, told me to get down there. That Chris has been shot,” she said. “I was in shock. I didn’t know what to do.”

Randall’s friend Richard Reid said she called frantically saying “Chris is shot” and to come down with her to the scene. When they arrived, Randall said she, her husband and other family were forced to wait as the scene remained blocked off by police.

“Nobody would tell me anything. They wouldn’t tell me that he was even deceased,” Randall said. “That was probably the most traumatic, horrible day of my entire life.”

The truth will come out, mother says

Randall said she could not speak to details in the case, in which Fort is currently facing one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. However, she holds some strong opinions about implications the case has about her son in the public eye.

Fort’s attorney, public defender Brett Newkirk, argued in Rockingham Superior Court that Coletti and Janvrin were both holding metal “bars and clubs.” Seabrook police detective Sgt. Daniel Lawrence has testified the shooting was prompted by Fort allegedly witnessing Coletti backing into Fort’s vehicle the night prior, as seen on security camera footage. Lawrence said Fort confronted Coletti about the damage the next day, leading to the shooting.

More: Police have charged the man they say ran away from the scene of a fatal Seabrook shooting

Randall said she believes her son would never threaten anyone with a weapon, and that he had a reputation of only fighting fair.

“I understand why he’s doing it,” she said of Fort’s claim he was threatened with bats and pipes. “He has to have some kind of defense, so he has to say something. It’s up to the prosecution to bring the reality to the forefront.”

Randall has heard rumors around town that the incident involved drugs, which she said she also wants to refute. She said she was experienced with people with addiction through her work at a methadone clinic and is confident her son was not involved in drugs.

“This was not a drug deal. It had nothing to do with drugs. This was about a scratched car,” she said.

The organizer of a soup kitchen at the Seacoast Dream Center, Randall said she is working toward forgiving Fort, though she said it is a challenge.

“My faith tells me I need to forgive him, and I’m working on it and the Lord knows my heart,” she said, “But I’m not there yet. I haven’t quite got to that point yet.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seabrook NH mom wants Garrito Fort to face murder charge