Hartford man gets 6-year prison sentence

He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy charge related to 2020 Super 8 motel killing

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to six years in prison on a conspiracy charge tied to the death of a man who was killed in a Hartford motel in 2020 over a pair of designer sunglasses.

Quinton Prince of Hartford received the sentence on Monday in Hartford Superior Court after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit second-degree assault — a felony.

The prison sentence handed down will be followed by four years of special parole.

Prince was among a total of four men and two women charged in the death of 23-yearold Kashnielle Haye, who was lured to the Super 8 motel on West Service Road in January 2020 with the promise of alcohol and sexual favors in a plot to seek revenge on him for stealing a pair of Cartier sunglasses, according to court documents. Police and paramedics found Haye suffering from a gunshot wound to the head after receiving a 911 call about an unresponsive male. Haye was pronounced dead at the scene.

All six suspects were initially charged with murder and other offenses before Prince’s probable cause hearing in June 2021, according to Hartford-based attorney Gerald Klein, who represented Prince.

During the June 2021 proceeding to determine if there was probable cause to pursue a felony murder charge — a hearing that all five other defendants waived — Klein said the judge cited a previous ruling that stipulates someone cannot be charged with stealing property that belongs to them. The robbery charge — which could no longer be established following the ruling — was key to being able to pursue felony murder, Klein added.

The probable cause ruling for Prince — which initially tossed his case entirely before prosecutors brought an additional charge against him — created a domino effect that prevented the other five suspects from being tried on murder charges, according to Klein.

Prosecutors were able to place all six suspects at the scene, but piecing together the specific actions of each assailant and what role they had in Haye’s death proved more challenging.

“The state had no indication of who did what,” Klein said, adding that none of the defendants were willing to testify against the other.

Klein said the judge on Monday agreed to give Prince about 17 months of jail credit that he earned while he was being held on bond in the murder case that was tossed. He also received credit for the approximate eight months he was held on bond in connection with the charge that followed.

“I’m very, very satisfied with the end result, as is my client,” Klein said.