Jury: Hartford Gang Member Guilty In Killing, Feds Say

HARTFORD, CT — A local gang member was found guilty Thursday in the 2013 murder of a 21-year-old in Hartford after a dispute over drugs.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, David Sundberg , special agent in charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody Thursday announced a federal jury in Hartford had found Antwane Williams-Bey, also known as “Buck,” 31, guilty of the drug-related murder of Valentin Santos Jr., 21, in Hartford in 2013.

The trial before U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea began Oct. 20 and the jury returned the guilty verdict Thursday afternoon.

According to evidence at trial, on Aug. 12, 2013, Williams-Bey, a member of the Orange Street Killas (OSK) street gang, shot and killed Santos, also known as “Macho” and “Ubby,” on Linnmoore Street in Hartford in retaliation for a theft of Williams-Bey’s drug stash/money.

Santos was shot approximately 12 times, mostly in the back, federal officials said.

At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Williams-Bey faces a maximum term of imprisonment of life in jail, federal officials said.

Williams-Bey has been detained in federal custody since February 2017 and is currently serving an 84-month federal sentence for distributing heroin and crack cocaine.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force and the Hartford Police Department.

The Task Force includes members of the FBI, Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, New Britain Police Department, West Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian P. Leaming and Robert S. Ruff.