Teen’s confession to fatal shooting in question

Boy allegedly persuaded to falsely confess in East Hartford incident

A 19-year-old Hartford man charged with manslaughter in connection with a 2022 homicide in East Hartford helped pressure a 15-year-old into confessing to a shooting he did not commit, according to a warrant charging the man.

Jahki Clarke, 19, of Hartford was arrested on an active warrant at Hartford Superior Court on Jan. 23 and charged with first-degree manslaughter with a firearm, tampering with physical evidence, weapons in a vehicle and first-degree hindering prosecution in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old on Jan. 9, 2022.

According to the warrant affidavit, officers from the East Hartford Police Department responded to a report of an unresponsive male found in the driveway of a home on Westbrook Street. The victim, later identified as a 17-year-old boy, was found with gunshot wounds and later died, the warrant affidavit said.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the torso and the manner of death as a homicide, the warrant said.

The victim’s girlfriend told investigators that he may have been trying to rob a drug dealer of some cannabis with a BB gun on Westbrook Street around noon on the day of the shooting. A BB gun was later found in a snowbank near the scene. A witness on Westbrook Street reported hearing a loud noise about 12:50 p.m. that day, the warrant said.

Police obtained security footage of the area from private citizens and town cameras. Police also obtained video from a nearby carwash that showed the victim approach the front passenger side of a white Toyota Avalon before quickly stumbling backward and running away “as if he was shot,” according to the warrant affidavit .

A white Toyota Avalon was seen speeding from the scene, the warrant affidavit said. The driver of the Toyota was determined to be 20-year-old Brainsley Beckford at the time of the incident, the warrant affidavit said. Beckford called investigators on Jan. 10, 2022, and requested help. He admitted that he was involved in the incident and wanted to give his side of the story, the warrant said. Beckford and his cousin were

transported from an apartment in Hartford to the East Hartford Police Department for questioning.

Beckford told police he was driving his Toyota with three others. He said a friend named “Ki,” later determined to be Jahki Clarke, was in the front passenger seat, the cousin was in the rear passenger’s side seat and a 15-year-old juvenile was in the rear driver’s side passenger seat, the warrant said. The Courant is not naming the cousin because he has not been charged in the homicide.

The four allegedly drove to Westbrook Street to sell some cannabis to a prospective buyer, Beckford said. The car pulled up to meet the buyer, who allegedly tried to reach into the front passenger side window of the vehicle, according to the warrant. Beckford told police that the 15-year-old then shot the victim, the warrant said.

Beckford said the four went back to the cousin’s apartment and took off all the clothing they were wearing. They placed their clothes into a black trash bag at Clarke’s order. Beckford said either Clarke or the 15-year-old put “something” into the trunk of the cousin’s car, which was parked at his apartment.

Clarke then called a person named “Sanjay,” identified as 24-year-old Sanjay Walsh, and the group gave him the bag with their clothes. Beckford said Walsh took something out of the cousin’s trunk before driving away. Walsh was later arrested and charged with tampering with evidence, the warrant said.

The 15-year-old later admitted to placing the gun used in the shooting in the trunk, the warrant said.

The cousin gave a similar statement as Beckford when questioned separately, the warrant affidavit said. He said Walsh took the bag of clothing from Beckford and he gave Walsh the gun used in the shooting.

Police interviewed the 15-year-old Jan. 10, 2022, after Beckford and the cousin identified him to police. The 15-year-old confirmed that he was in the back seat on the driver’s side , Clarke was in the front passenger’s side seat and the cousin was in the back passenger’s side seat in the Toyota, the warrant said. According to the warrant, 15-year-old confessed to shooting the victim and confessed to possessing the gun used in the shooting. He said he found the gun prior to the shooting and had been carrying it around, the warrant said.

The 15-year-old was arrested and charged with manslaughter, the warrant said.

Police said all three were also questioned “extensively on the logistics and improbabilities” of a rear driver’s side passenger shooting a person at the front passenger side window while someone was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car, according to the warrant.

The warrant said “all three were intent on explaining the scenario in that manner.” The three also gave little information about Clarke, except Beckford said he was now possibly in California for a “planned vacation” and was gone less than 18 hours after the shooting.

Four days later, on Jan. 14, 2022, the cousin gave police a second statement where he allegedly admitted that he initially provided false information in his first statement. He allegedly said that Clarke was the shooter, not the 15-year-old, and that Clarke and Walsh told everyone to say it was the minor. The cousin said they thought the 15-year-old would get in the least amount of trouble due to his age.

Investigators asked Beckford if he wanted to provide a second statement, which he declined through an attorney, the warrant said.

On March 29, 2022, police re-interviewed the 15-yearold, who was incarcerated, alongside his attorney. The teen said he was not the shooter and “was pressured into taking the blame for the shooting by Jahki, Brainsley,” and the cousin, the warrant said. He confirmed the group thought he would get the lightest punishment for the shooting.

The minor allegedly said that Clarke was the actual shooter and had used the gun that the minor found for the shooting. He said that Clarke took possession of the gun Jan. 9 before the group drove to East Hartford, according to the warrant.

He allegedly said that Clarke, Beckford and his cousin all cut up their clothes and put them in a bag, and he personally hid the gun in the Toyota’s trunk as soon as they got back to Hartford after the shooting, the warrant said.

Both the minor and the cousin confirmed identified Clarke by photograph during their secondary interviews with police, the warrant said.

Police obtained a search warrant for Clarke’s phone Feb. 11, 2022, and GPS data from his cellphone allegedly placed him directly near the scene of the shooting about 12:50 p.m. Jan. 9, 2022, according to the warrant.

Police said they attempted to contact Clarke several times during the investigation but were unable to, the warrant said.

Beckford was arrested May 23, 2022, and charged with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle and giving a false statement, according to court records. He was released from custody on a $100,000 bond.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges and is scheduled to appear Feb. 14 in Hartford Superior Court.

The 15-year-old’s charges have not been amended by the court, according to East Hartford Officer Marc Caruso. The cousin has not been charged in connection with the incident, Caruso said.