Plea Agreement Reached in 2014 Killing of Vernon Man

A plea bargain agreement announced in Hartford Superior Court Monday resulted in a man pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with the beating death of a Vernon man 17 months ago in Manchester.

Lorenzo Hernandez, 22, pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree manslaughter and third-degree burglary for his role in the death of Bienvenido Tosado, the Hartford Courant reported.

On March 25, 2014, Tosado, 47, was discovered unconscious and severely beaten inside a room at the Manchester Inn. He died six days later at Hartford Hospital.

Two days after the attack, police arrested Hernandez on a warrant charging him with assault and burglary. He was initially held on $500,000 bond, but when Tosado died, murder and felony murder charges were added and bond increased to $2 million, according to a 2014 Journal Inquirer story.

Hernandez has been in custody since his arrest. He is due back in court Oct. 2, according to judicial records.

A second suspect in the case, Benjamin Thibodeau, 40, was arrested on a warrant a month after the beating. He has also been held in lieu of $2 million bond on charges of felony murder, being an accessory to murder and first-degree burglary. Judicial recordsshow he is scheduled to return to court Sept. 2.

Read more at www.courant.com.