Dave Altimari of the HARTFORD COURANT reports today that two witnesses, including a player on the UConn football team, told police that “Jasper Howard took the first swing at the man accused of stabbing him to death.”
The fight began after two members of the team — Brian Parker, a redshirt freshman, and freshman A.J. Portee — “disrespected a girl,” according to the 21-page arrest warrant affidavit for John W. Lomax III, 21, who is charged with murder in Howard’s death.
Parker and Portee “made a comment” to the girl, and then “got into a shouting match” with Johnny Fitzgerald Hood, 21, of Hartford.
Police dispersed the crowd, but seven witnesses said they saw Lomax and Hakim Muhammad, 20 — both Bloomfield residents who came to the dance with Hood — go to Lomax’s car and return to the crowd carrying something or concealing something under their shirts, the warrant states.
After Howard reportedly took a swing at Lomax, Lomax stabbed him. One of the witnesses who reported Howard’s attempted punch was a member of the UConn football team.
Howard then shouted, “They got me! They got me!” and fell to the ground.
Howard’s teammate Parker was later stabbed in the back.
Unfortunate to find out that one of the Howard’s teammates said he saw him take a swing at the alleged murderer Lomax, but certainly doesn’t excuse Lomax’s actions, if true.
2:36 pm on November 10th, 2009
premeditated self-defense?
3:18 pm on November 10th, 2009
This will get plea’d down to voluntary manslaughter, guy will be home in 3 years tops. If he was defending himself then……
3:21 pm on November 10th, 2009
“unfortunate to find out that one of Howard’s teammates said he saw him take a swing at the alleged murderer”
Why is this unfortunate? Unfortunate that he told the truth? Unfortunate that he was a team mate?? What??
Oh, and about the first comment on ‘premeditated self-defence’. There is no such thing. Self defence is self defence, there can be nothing premeditated about it.
4:41 pm on November 10th, 2009
did he throw the punch when he saw the knife, before he was stabbed?
4:44 pm on November 10th, 2009
not gonna be self defense when witnesses saw him walk in with a knife after going out to get it from a car….i believe manslaughter will be the charge, esp after his friends turn witness
4:50 pm on November 10th, 2009
Someone swing at me, guns come out.
7:15 pm on November 10th, 2009
@ET, that’s the right way to resolve things - less witnesses - make sure you have an extra clip…
And the reason it’s ‘unfortunate’ is because in the black community that guy is now a snitch - black males are expected to stonewall any crime investigation. That’s what’s so ironic when the black communities claim that cops don’t solve crimes in their parts of town. Cops don’t have a crystal ball (if they did they’d use it to know where the hot chicks were driving and go pull them over for bogus infractions) - if no one talks the cases go unsolved…
2:12 am on November 11th, 2009
@Northern Knight. You’re an idiot.
There is something called premeditated self-defense. The idea is to incite someone into attacking you so you then have free reign to harm them.
DAMN. I’m so clever! I should go kill everyone I don’t like with this tactic!
See now? You dumb f*cking ape.