Man Convicted of Manslaughter In 2019 Shooting Death In Windsor Locks

HARTFORD, CT — A man accused of fatally shooting another man inside an Old County Road apartment complex in 2019 was convicted Thursday of first-degree manslaughter and two additional charges by a Hartford Superior Court jury.

Antwon Barnes, 41, was also found guilty of first-degree attempt to commit assault and third-degree larceny in connection with an incident which resulted in the shooting death of Leroy Jefferson, 35, according to Hartford State’s Attorney Sharmese L. Walcott.

Jefferson was shot to death in a hallway at 131 Old County Road on Oct. 22, 2019. According to evidence introduced at the trial, Barnes shot Jefferson 42 times and threatened to kill a woman at the scene while holding a gun to her head. He later fled the scene in a stolen vehicle, Walcott said.

According to an arrest warrant released the afternoon after the shooting, Windsor Locks police received a 911 call at 10:52 a.m., stating someone had been shot at the apartment building. Moments later, a second 911 call was received from a woman who said, "My son's father just shot the guy I was talking to ... He's dead, shot him so many times."

In a statement to police, the woman said she was exiting the building with Jefferson, whom she was giving a ride. Barnes, whom she dated for nine years and with whom she had an 8-year-old son at the time, was entering the same stairwell and a verbal confrontation ensued, which Jefferson tried to avoid. The confrontation continued through the stairwell toward the parking lot, then Barnes shot Jefferson multiple times.

The woman told police she and Barnes had ended their relationship about five months earlier, with Barnes staying in apartment 161, which they had shared, while she moved into another unit in the complex. She said she began dating Jefferson about two months later, and that he and Barnes had never met, according to the warrant.

At the time of the confrontation, Barnes was carrying a bag and holding open a common door leading to the stairwell. Jefferson walked past Barnes, and the woman followed. She said she turned and looked at Barnes, and "he had a look on his face I had never seen before." When she said, "What Antwon, what?" he uttered an expletive, then pulled a gun out of his waistband and began shooting, according to the warrant.

After shooting Jefferson, Barnes grabbed the woman by her shirt, put the gun to her face and pulled the trigger; however, the weapon did not fire. She said he removed a second gun from the bag and shot Jefferson multiple times in the head, then grabbed her and said, 'You're coming with me, give me your keys,' according to the warrant.

Investigation revealed Barnes left the scene in a Nissan Pathfinder and drove to the nearby Roncari parking service lot near Bradley International Airport, where he worked as a security guard. He parked the Pathfinder in a rear lot, stole a Ford Explorer and drove to Hartford, police said.

Jefferson was pronounced dead at the scene. A total of 42 spent 9mm pistol cartridge cases were located near his body, police said.

The woman went to the Windsor Locks Police Department, and while being questioned, she received a call from Barnes on her cell phone. She handed the phone to Officer Earl Baidy, who persuaded Barnes to surrender peacefully. Shortly thereafter, police were notified that Barnes had turned himself in at the Hartford Police Department, but when officers from Windsor Locks arrived there, they were informed Barnes had been taken to Hartford Hospital, claiming he was having trouble breathing, according to the warrant.

After discharge from the hospital, Barnes was taken back to the Windsor Locks Police Department for questioning. He claimed he and the woman had spent the previous night together, and that the two "were trying to work things out." He said after his midnight work shift, he left at 7 a.m. and went to see his son before he left for school, according to the warrant.

Barnes told police he planned on going to the shooting range at Hoffman's Gun Club in Newington. He said he had a gun holstered on his hip, and had decided to go back into his apartment to fetch another one when he encountered the woman and Jefferson at the doorway, the warrant states.

In his written report, Officer Daniel Bontempo wrote, "He stated that if he just never went back to go to get the other gun that none of this would have happened."

Barnes owned 11 legally registered firearms, an investigation revealed.

He had originally been charged with murder, attempted murder and first-degree larceny. Judicial records indicate he has been in custody in lieu of $2 million bond since his arrest,.

Barnes is scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford Superior Court on Feb. 2, 2023.

Audio of the 911 calls may be heard below: