Teen arrested in connection with Middletown shootout in May that killed one, injured another
A teen boy was arrested last week in connection with the dramatic May shootout that left one man dead and another wounded in Middletown, sparking a multi-state investigation that has involved secret GPS trackers and elaborate federal surveillance this summer.
The teen is the fifth to be arrested in connection with the murder of 25-year-old Tylon Hardy, who was shot and killed the morning of May 16 when a furious confrontation boiled over into an exchange of gunfire outside a Stirling Court home.
The teen, who was not named publicly because he was 17 years old at the time of the incident and is being charged as a juvenile, is accused of opening fire during the shootout, Middletown police said Monday night.
He is not accused of firing the shots that killed Hardy but has been charged with attempt to commit first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, unlawful discharge of a firearm and carrying a handgun without a permit, Middletown police said. He was transported to juvenile detention and released after posting bond.
Late this summer investigators charged 20-year-old Matthew O’Banner with Hardy’s murder after federal agents secretly tracked his mother’s car to a hideout in New Jersey while he spent months on the lam after detectives learned his mother and girlfriend allegedly conspired to cover up his involvement in the shooting, court records revealed in August.
The shootout began after 21-year-old Nahkyn Durazzo told O’Banner he and several associates were “pulling up” to O’Banner’s house to fight over some kind of dispute between the men, according to previous court records.
Instead, O’Banner stormed out of the house and opened fire on the crowd gathering in the intersection outside his home, prompting several others — allegedly including the teen arrested last week — to return fire, video from nearby security cameras showed. Hardy was killed and a 17-year-old boy was injured, but police have not said whether the teen arrested last week was the same one wounded that day.
Security cameras inside the house captured O’Banner’s mother, 54-year-old Michelle Sanders, and his girlfriend, 21-year-old Alexandra Vazquez, discussing how they could potentially cover up O’Banner’s involvement immediately after the shooting. Both were later charged with interfering with police and Sanders also was charged with tampering with evidence, hindering prosecution and drug possession.
O’Banner initially planned to turn himself in to police at the end of May but instead disappeared until U.S. Marshals placed a secret GPS tracker in his mother’s car at an Audi service center and tracked her trips to an apartment in North Bergen, New Jersey, court records show. Agents set up surveillance at the apartment and arrested O’Banner there in early August.
O’Banner was charged with murder, first-degree assault and four other offenses. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and remains in custody on a $2 million bond. Sanders also pleaded not guilty and both she and Vazquez have been released from custody, court records show.
Durazzo was arrested in June on a litany of unrelated drug offenses after leading police on a pursuit. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Zach Murdock can be reached at zmurdock@courant.com.
