thechronicle Oct 27 2009 - 11:08am Local News
Breaking News -- Three suspects arrested in UConn stabbing death
By CAITLIN M. DINEEN
Chronicle Staff Writer
STORRS — University of Connecticut police early this afternoon announced three arrests in connection with the murder of UConn football star Jasper Howard.
University police have charged Bloomfield resident John William Lomax III, 21, 28 Barry Circle, Bloomfield, with murder and first-degree conspiracy to commit assault in connection with the Oct. 18 stabbing death of Howard.
He is being held on $2 million bond in Rockville Superior Court. Lomax is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
In addition, two others were charged:
• Hakim Muhammad, 20, 11 Barry Circle, Bloomfield, was charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit assault. He is being held on $750,000 bond in Rockville Superior Court. He will be arraigned Wednesday.
• Jamal Todd, 21, 75 Hampton St., Hartford, was charged with falsely reporting an incident and reckless endangerment.
Todd, police said, is alleged to have pulled the fire alarm at a UConn dance that led to the outdoor confrontation outside the Student Union.
He posted $5,000 bond and will appear in Rockville Superior Court Nov. 10.
Police did not indicate that Todd conspired with Lomax and Muhammad.
None of those arrested is a student at UConn, police said.
Police said warrants were served Monday, the same day Howard was laid to rest in Miami.
Howard, 20, of Miami, a star on the UConn football team, was stabbed to death on Hillside Road outside the Student Union.
The crime rocked the campus, prompting a week long mourning period that culminated with Howard’s funeral in Florida Monday.
Over the weekend, the police probe was visible throughout the Storrs campus.
Police expanded their investigation Friday as UConn and State Police canine units searched alongside Route 195 in the Horsebarn Hill area.
Police would not provide details as to what they were looking for, but UConn police confirmed Friday afternoon the search was part of the ongoing investigation of the stabbing death of Howard.
In addition, state police divers were seen investigating in Swan Lake, though officers had no comment about why they were in the lake.
Howard was attending a West Indian Student Organization party when a fire alarm was activated at 12:26 a.m.
As nearly 300 students and non-students were evacuated, an altercation broke out between a group of students and non-students. It was during that altercation that Howard was stabbed.
He died of a single stab wound to the abdomen, said the State’s office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Howard’s death was ruled a homicide.
While police continued the investigation, students continued the grieving process Saturday by coming together and watching to Huskies take on West Virginia in their first football game since Howard’s death.
Last week, the UConn Co-Op, the campus bookstore, sold out of Howard’s No. 6 T-shirts and began taking pre-orders for the overwhelming demand of Howard jerseys.
The shirts not only serve as a unifying garment for students, but they act as a fundraising tool for two funds established in Howard’s memory.
UConn’s Division of Athletics established “The Jasper T. Howard Endowed Scholarship Fund” and “The Jasper Howard Fund.”
The scholarship fun will be presented to a UConn football student-athlete annually. The selected player will be a cornerback who best displays the “outstanding leadership qualities that Howard embodied.”
The other fund will raise funds to support Howard’s family and his unborn child.
The shirts cost $20 each and $16 from each purchase will be donated to the two separate funds.
To donate to the scholarship, make checks payable to the UConn Foundation, Inc. and send them to P.O. Box 150430, Hartford, CT, 06115.
To donate to the other fund make checks payable to the Jasper Howard Fund and send the to People’s Bank, 2075 Hillside Road, Storrs, 06268.
