East Hartford gang member rejects plea deal in fatal shooting

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Feb. 27—A reputed member of a Hartford street gang who has lived in East Hartford and is accused of murdering a member of a rival gang in 2008 rejected a plea bargain Friday in which he would have been convicted of a reduced charge and received an 18-year prison sentence.

James Dexter Brown Jr., 31, who is known as "Decky," rejected the plea offer in the fatal shooting of Kenny J. Sullivan of Hartford, who was known as "Banga," during a brief hearing in Hartford Superior Court.

Under the deal he spurned, Brown would have been convicted of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, rather than murder. The 18-year prison term would have been followed by five years' probation, with the possibility of up to 12 more years behind bars if he violated release conditions.

NO PLEA DEAL

DEFENDANT: Former East Hartford resident James Dexter Brown Jr., 31

CHARGE: Murder in the shooting death of Kenny J. Sullivan, 20, of Hartford in 2008.

REJECTED OFFER: Brown would have been convicted of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and sentenced to 30 years in prison, suspended after 18 years, followed by five years' probation.

Brown's rejection of the plea bargain means he will continue to face the original murder charge. His case will go on a trial list, but further plea bargaining remains possible.

The courts have run into considerable difficulty with their efforts to hold jury trials since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

Brown is accused of fatally shooting Sullivan, 20, after a "Hot Jam" concert at Hartford's XL Center on June 26, 2008, during which Brown and other members of the Money Green Bedroc gang had fights with Sullivan and other members of the Sandz-Bridge gang, according to a police affidavit.

According to witness accounts, Sullivan was shot as he walked across Main Street toward the Money Green Bedroc group in the area north of the XL Center.

Brown is paralyzed from the waist down and has lost an eye as a result of numerous gunshot wounds he suffered on July 4, 2008, eight days after Sullivan was killed.

Despite his disabilities, Brown has been convicted of crimes that occurred since then. He received a four-year state prison sentence for selling drugs and violating probation conditions, then received a partly-overlapping 5 1/2 -year federal sentence for involvement in a drug ring.

He is currently being held in lieu of $1 million bond in the murder case.

Brown wasn't charged with the murder until December 2018, more than a decade after Sullivan's death.

An affidavit by Hartford police Detective Andrew T. Jacobson describes a case built almost entirely on the statements of 10 cooperating witnesses, a number of whom gave the statements amid legal troubles of their own.

One of Brown's early convictions was for second-degree assault in the fight in which Hiram David Colon Jr., 17, was stabbed to death outside a birthday party on Silver Lane in East Hartford in 2006.

For updates on Glastonbury, and recent crime and courts coverage in North-Central Connecticut, follow Alex Wood on Twitter: @AlexWoodJI1, Facebook: Alex Wood, and Instagram: @AlexWoodJI.

Recommended Stories

  • Buffett upbeat on U.S. and Berkshire, buys back stock even as pandemic hits results

    Not even the coronavirus pandemic could dampen Warren Buffett's enthusiasm for the future prospects of America and his company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. He also retained his longstanding optimism for his company, repurchasing a record $24.7 billion of Berkshire stock in 2020 in a sign he considers it undervalued, and for the United States despite "severe interruptions" such as the pandemic. The letter breaks an uncharacteristic silence for the 90-year-old Buffett, who has been almost completely invisible to the public since Berkshire's annual meeting last May amid the pandemic, soaring stocks and a divisive U.S. presidential election.

  • CPAC 2021 – live: Trump Jr pushes big election lie as ex-aide says former president ‘not done with revolution’

    Follow the latest updates

  • What to do if you lose your COVID-19 vaccine card

    Go back to the place you got your first shot if you lose your paper card, and make sure to take a photo of the vaccine card after your first dose.

  • Report calls for killing of cattle on pariah ship

    It’s been recommended that more than 850 cows on a livestock ship that spent months wandering across the Mediterranean should be killed.That’s according to a confidential report by Spanish government veterinarians seen by Reuters.They concluded that the cows that spent months aboard the ship are no longer fit for transport.An animal rights activist says the cows were kept in "hellish" conditions on the Karim Allah which docked in the Spanish port of Cartagena on Thursday (February 25).It was after struggling to find a buyer for the cattle during the past two months.The beasts were rejected by several countries over fears they had bovine bluetongue virus.The insect-borne virus causes lameness and haemorrhaging among cattle - it does not affect humans.The veterinarians' report concluded that the animals had suffered from the lengthy journey.And that euthanasia would be the best solution for their health and welfare.

  • Truck parked at Capitol on day of riot belongs to husband of GOP congresswoman who quoted Hitler

    Mary Miller started her term as an Illinois representative on 3 January 2021

  • Russian scientists say Sputnik V performs well against COVID mutations

    A Russian trial testing the effectiveness of revaccination with the Sputnik V shot to protect against new mutations of the coronavirus is producing strong results, researchers said on Saturday. Last month President Vladimir Putin ordered a review by March 15 of Russian-produced vaccines for their effectiveness against new variants spreading in different parts of the world.

  • Archaeologists uncover ancient ceremonial carriage near Pompeii

    Archaeologists have unearthed a unique ancient-Roman ceremonial carriage from a villa just outside Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. The almost perfectly preserved four-wheeled carriage made of iron, bronze and tin was found near the stables of an ancient villa at Civita Giuliana, around 700 metres (yards) north of the walls of ancient Pompeii. Massimo Osanna, the outgoing director of the Pompeii archaeological site, said the carriage was the first of its kind discovered in the area, which had so far yielded functional vehicles used for transport and work, but not for ceremonies.

  • Dunkirk Covid-19 outbreak offers bleak window into future as France vaccine programme lags

    The French city of Dunkirk had long prided itself on being the main port of entry for Britons into Europe, and welcoming scores of British tourists to its beaches and wine shops. But in February, its proximity to Britain, where a more contagious variant of Covid-19 has spread like wildfire, quickly triggered a health crisis. "We're an important point of entry into Europe for Britain. This time it did not work out well for us," Thomas Roussez, from the city hall, told the Telegraph. "We did not manage to detect [the variant] early enough. When we realised it we were already on very high rates," he added. All eyes in France are now fixed on Dunkirk and other similar hotspots like Nice. Panicked health officials are warning that the overwhelmed hospitals and rising epidemic is a window into what is to come for the rest of the country as the vaccination programme is in disarray. The jarring glimpse is a stark warning for Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who has faced increasing pressure to bring in new restrictions just as the UK is planning for its grand reopening. It is a conundrum present across much of the continent, acutely felt in Central Europe where case rises are on the march once again. Dinkirk's first cases of the so-called Kent variant are believed to have reached the city through truck drivers coming from Britain. Quickly, the city of 90,000 had the highest incidence rate of Covid-19 in the country. Dunkirk's Covid-19 rate has risen from 658 to 901 cases per 100,000 of the population in a week, more than four times the national average.

  • Trump begins settling scores with Republican opponents by endorsing a former aide's primary challenge to an Ohio congressman who backed impeachment

    Trump weighed in for the first time after he indicated he would play an active role on the campaign trail during the 2022 midterm elections.

  • Everything you need to know about Neuralink, Elon Musk's company that wants to put microchips in people's brains

    Neuralink's technology could help study and treat neurological disorders. Musk also claims it could one day meld human consciousness with AI.

  • Brunt Ice Shelf: Big iceberg calves near UK Antarctic base

    The berg covers 1,270 sq km - nearly 490 square miles - but its break-off was expected.

  • Dollars flood Venezuela as Maduro abandons 'socialismo' in favour of Chinese system

    Perched on the mountain range that divides the sprawling city of Caracas from the Caribbean Sea, Venezuela’s Hotel Humboldt can be seen from nearly all corners of the capital. The 65 year-old, 14-floor structure can only be reached by cable car from the city below. It currently boasts 69 rooms, six dining areas, a casino, a night club, and a swimming pool and spa. “It will be the first seven star hotel in Venezuela,” President Nicolas Maduro once proudly proclaimed as the 1956 symbol of oil wealth was being lavishly renovated. Now, the hotel is open again as a symbol of an impending economic recovery and tourism boom in a country that has suffered the worst economic crisis in modern Latin American history. But the so-called Socialist president’s touting of the luxurious, $300 per night hotel in a country where most live in poverty represents something else to others - an abandonment of a political project promising a socialist utopia in favor of an 'anything goes', capitalist kleptocracy.

  • Covid-19: India in a 'delicate phase' of its coronavirus battle as cases surge

    A surge in cases in some Indian states has scientists worried about a possible new wave.

  • Warriors, Draymond Green get their revenge on Hornets after 2-point loss in Charlotte

    Hornets beat Warriors in Charlotte after Draymond Green was ejected

  • Processing of asylum seekers expands at US-Mexico border

    The processing of asylum seekers waiting to enter the United States expanded to a third border crossing Friday, even as nongovernmental organizations called for more effort to protect the thousands still in Mexican border cities. A week after the U.S. government began processing those with active cases made to wait in Mexico during the Trump administration at a border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego, the process expanded this week to the Matamoros-Brownsville crossing and Friday to Ciudad Juarez-El Paso. A camp of migrants on the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros was a particular priority for the Biden administration and Mexico.

  • Biden stresses unity as he tours storm-ravaged Texas

    The Bidens spent the afternoon meeting state and local leaders and touring storm damage.

  • Oath Keeper charged in Capitol riot renounces militia group

    A member of the Oath Keepers militia group charged with plotting with other extremists in the attack on the U.S. Capitol disavowed the anti-government group in a court hearing Friday, telling the judge she is “appalled” by her fellow Oath Keepers and “humiliated” by her arrest. Jessica Watkins, one of nine members and associates of the far-right militia group charged with planning and coordinating with one another in the Jan. 6 siege, said she plans to cancel her Oath Keepers membership and has disbanded her local Ohio militia group. Judge Amit P. Mehta said Watkins was “not just a foot soldier” but actively involved in the planning and organizing of the attack and is too dangerous to be released.

  • Gymnastics: U.S. governing body shocked over death of former coach

    Geddert, who had ties to disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar, was charged with 20 counts of human trafficking, one count of first-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault, criminal enterprise and lying to a police officer, according to court documents filed in Eaton County, Michigan. "We had hoped that news of the criminal charges being brought against John Geddert would lead to justice through the legal process," the sport's U.S. governing body said in a statement on Friday. "With the news of his death by suicide, we share the feelings of shock, and our thoughts are with the gymnastics community as they grapple with the complex emotions of this week's events."

  • Over a dozen GOP House members cited 'the ongoing health emergency' to skip in-person voting while they spoke at CPAC

    Many GOP members, including some who voted by proxy during CPAC, have vocally criticized the system and even sued over it in court.

  • Nigeria's Zamfara school abduction: More than 300 Nigerian girls missing

    Nigeria's president warns the kidnappers that his government will not give in to blackmail.