Warrant: Man charged with murder after alleged road rage incident led to fatal shooting in Hartford

A man charged in a homicide this week is alleged to have shot and killed a Hartford man during a road rage incident in the city last August, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Brian Jones, 28, of Hartford was arrested Wednesday on charges of murder, criminal possession of a firearm and unlawful discharge of a firearm, court records show.

The charges stem from the killing of 32-year-old Angel Martinez on Aug. 14, 2023, just after 7 p.m., when police received a ShotSpotter notification alerting them to nine rounds of gunfire in the 400 block of Granby Street near Weaver High School, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. Moments later, the Hartford Police Department received a report of a serious motor vehicle crash on Lyme Street about a block east of where the shots were fired.

Responding officers found a Honda Accord with heavy front end damage up against an unoccupied parked car. The Honda had gunshots in its rear passenger door and trunk area, the warrant affidavit said.

Martinez was found unresponsive in the driver seat covered in blood, police wrote in the warrant affidavit. He was pronounced dead at 7:23 p.m. and an autopsy later revealed he died of a gunshot wound to the neck. The death was ruled a homicide.

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Video surveillance in the area of the shooting allegedly showed a black Infiniti QX60 driving south on Granby Street before stopping at a stop sign near Tower Avenue and allowing another motorist to pass, according to the warrant affidavit.

The Infiniti allegedly remained at the stop sign until a Honda pulled alongside it, where both vehicles remained for a “brief time” before the Infiniti took off heading south on Granby, the warrant affidavit said. The Honda took off soon thereafter heading east onto Tower Avenue where the vehicle pulled over and Martinez got out to check his wounds.

According to the warrant affidavit, Martinez then got back into the Honda and headed south on Lyme Street where he hit multiple utility poles and a parked car.

The lead investigator in the case was able to interview someone who witnessed the shooting. The witness alleged that they heard the drivers of the Infiniti and the Honda speaking to each other briefly before the shots were fired, the warrant affidavit said.

“Yo, you good?” the driver of the Honda allegedly asked, the witness told police.

“Yeah, I’m good,” the Infiniti driver allegedly responded, according to the warrant affidavit.

The witness then said they allegedly saw the driver of the Infiniti point a gun out of his window and fire several shots, the warrant affidavit said.

The witness described the shooter as a male in his 20s or 30s with gold teeth, according to the warrant affidavit.

Investigators were able to review private surveillance footage in the area which allegedly showed what happened in the minutes leading up to the shooting and led detectives to believe that the altercation began as a road rage incident, the warrant affidavit said. The footage allegedly showed that the Infiniti was driving behind the Honda on Granby Street until a section of the road merges from two lanes to one, where the Infiniti appeared to unsuccessfully try to pass the Honda, according to the warrant affidavit.

The Infiniti then was allegedly seen driving erratically behind the Honda with its brake lights flashing on and off while the driver allegedly swerved back and forth, the warrant affidavit said.

A detective alleged in the warrant affidavit that the behavior exhibited by the Infiniti driver appeared consistent with road rage.

After the shooting, Hartford police put out photos of the Infiniti to other law enforcement agencies throughout the state and were alerted on Aug. 15, 2023, that a patrol officer in Wethersfield spotted a car matching the description parked in the Folly Brook apartment complex, the warrant affidavit said. A spent shell casing could allegedly be seen in clear view inside the vehicle, police said, according to the warrant affidavit.

Despite not having a license plate, police reportedly found that the vehicle was registered to Jones, the warrant affidavit said.

Hartford investigators responded to the scene and seized the vehicle before obtaining a search warrant to look inside. A search of the car allegedly turned up a live round inside stamped “Blazer 9mm Luger,” which was the same brand and caliber of spent casings found at the scene, according to the warrant affidavit.

Investigators also took swabs from inside the vehicle and sent them to the state lab to be tested for gunshot residue and DNA.

During the investigation, detectives found that Jones is a previously convicted felon whose most recent conviction came in September 2015 on charges of carrying a pistol without a permit and unlawful discharge of a firearm, the warrant affidavit said. Because of his prior felony convictions, he previously submitted a DNA sample that is kept on file with the state.

Two days after the shooting, Jones allegedly called the Hartford Police Department and reported that his Infiniti had been stolen sometime on Aug. 14, according to the warrant affidavit. When detectives responded to the Charlotte Street residence where Jones said he was, they spoke to his mother and she told them he does not live there, the warrant affidavit said.

As investigators were leaving, a white Jeep Compass arrived with a woman inside who identified herself as Jones’ sister, police wrote. After approaching the residence she went back to the Compass, where detectives could see a man with what appeared to be gold teeth in the driver seat, the warrant affidavit said.

Jones’ sister told police the man was her boyfriend and that he had nothing to do with their investigation, the warrant affidavit said.

Police said they were unable to determine if the man was Jones before the vehicle took off, police wrote. Investigators followed the Compass and allegedly tried to pull it over, but the driver sped off.

Two days later the vehicle was spotted in the area of Main and Belden Streets, where police pulled it over and spoke to a Manchester man who was alone inside, the warrant affidavit said. Investigators could not determine if the man was the same person driving days earlier who refused to stop. His DMV photo partially showed his teeth, which appeared to be gold plated, investigators alleged.

Detectives then zeroed in on both Jones and the Manchester man during their investigation, which they said led them to believe Jones was the alleged shooter.

Investigators obtained a search and seizure warrant for Jones’ cell phone records, which allegedly showed the device was in the area of the shooting when the homicide occurred, the warrant affidavit said.

In October, detectives learned that a preliminary examination of the DNA swabbed from inside the Infiniti contained a mixture that allegedly included Jones’ DNA profile, according to the warrant affidavit. Police noted that the Manchester man pulled over by investigators in the Infiniti months prior was also a convicted felon with his DNA on file, though it was not a match to any of the swabs collected.

Additionally, lab reports that came back in November 2023 allegedly showed that swabs taken from inside the Infiniti contained particles consistent with those commonly found in gunshot residue, according to the warrant affidavit.

Investigators in December obtained a search and seizure warrant to collect a DNA sample from Jones, though he allegedly could not be located despite a “wanted flier” being distributed to Hartford police and surrounding agencies, the warrant affidavit said.

The warrant affidavit for Jones’ arrest was signed by a judge on Feb. 29.

Jones was taken into custody Wednesday after being located by members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force and the Hartford Police Violent Crimes Unit at a residence on Charlotte Street.

He was initially held on $800,000 bond and arraigned later in the day in Hartford Superior Court, where Judge David Gold raised his bail to $1.5 million, court records show.

Jones remains in custody and is due back in court on June 26.