Ex-restaurant manager pleads guilty to murder for shooting a fry cook.
Former Manager Who Shot And Killed Cook Will Be Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison
HARTFORD — A former manager at a Bonchon Chicken restaurant in Manchester pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder for gunning down a fry cook after an argument over a negative review on Yelp.
James Goolsby, 28, of Hartford, will be sentenced to 35 years in prison when he returns to court Jan. 23. He pleaded guilty under an plea agreement negotiated by prosecutor Robin Krawczyk and public defender John Stawicki.
The shooting occurred Dec. 30. Goolsby, the kitchen manager, got into an argument with Norris Jackson, a fry cook about the review. Goolsby left the restaurant, returned a short time later and opened fire on Jackson, 36, Krawczyk told Hartford Superior Court Judge Laura F. Baldini.
The Korean fried chicken restaurant at the bustling Plaza at Buckland Hills had just opened when the shooting occurred at about 11:45 a.m., police said. An employee who witnessed the shooting said he heard Jackson say, “‘Yo, do that (expletive) again' and when he looked over he saw James' arm out and something black in his hand,” the warrant says.
“He heard ‘a few pops' and ‘saw a flash' and then Norris ‘staggered and went down,'” the warrant said.
Jackson, a father of seven, was pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital on Dec. 31. There was no evidence that Jackson was carrying a weapon at the time.
During a preliminary hearing, Stawicki acknowledged that Goolsby shot and fatally wounded Jackson, but argued it was not intentional. “Basically you had a workplace argument that got out of hand over what my guy was doing properly, which was talking to the kitchen help about a bad review they had gotten,” Stawicki said after the hearing. That other employee testified at the hearing.
Jackson “insinuated himself into the situation, basically said he wanted to fight my guy,” Stawicki said. The “victim took off his apron, threw it on the ground and went towards my guy looking for a fight.”
Goolsby pulled out a gun and fired five shots at Jackson, Stawicki said.
The defense argued that Goolsby did not intend to fatally shoot Jackson because none of the wounds Jackson suffered were aimed at his chest or center mass. Jackson suffered wounds to each arm and one to his neck, Stawicki said. Goolsby fired the shots when the two men were about four feet apart. Stawicki argued that the downward trajectory of the neck wound was consistent with Jackson charging at Goolsby with his head down.
“My guy shot him,” Stawicki said. “The issue was what was his actual intent.”
A judge did not accept the argument and allowed the state's murder prosecution to proceed. The result was Wednesday's deal.
Leanne Robitaille, 23, of South Windsor, a former manager at the restaurant and Goolsby's girlfriend, was sentenced in September to a year in prison for aiding Goolsby.
She pleaded guilty to a single felony count of second-degree hindering prosecution. She fled with Goolsby and helped him temporarily elude police by giving him money and getting rid of her cell phone so she could not be tracked.