On the morning of May 24, 2024, a grim discovery was made in a third-floor apartment at 159 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. Responding to a report that someone may have been shot, police found the body of 57-year-old Andrew Gunn, a Black / African American resident of the city. Initially deemed a suspicious death due to signs of trauma, an autopsy later confirmed that Gunn had died from a fatal gunshot wound to his head and neck.
The investigation into the death of the male
victim quickly evolved into a homicide investigation. Suspicion fell upon a fellow resident of the Wethersfield Avenue apartment building, 47-year-old Rene "June" Almodovar. According to witness accounts, the events leading up to the shooting were harrowing. One witness who was in the apartment with Gunn reported that as Gunn was about to leave to get more drugs, a single gunshot rang out, and Gunn fell to the floor. This witness claimed that Almodovar then instructed them to tell the police that a man named "George" was the shooter and threatened to kill the witness and their cousin if they revealed the truth.
Based on the testimony of three witnesses who implicated Almodovar, an arrest was made. Rene Almodovar was taken into custody and charged with murder, criminal possession of a firearm, and first-degree threatening of witnesses. Key evidence in the case included a backpack Almodovar was seen wearing on surveillance footage from the apartment building. A few days later, police found the backpack in nearby Colt Park, and inside it was the gun believed to be the murder weapon. A shell casing found in the apartment and a bullet recovered from Gunn's body matched the firearm. Further strengthening the case, DNA consistent with Almodovar's was found on the gun's magazine. Almodovar is being held on a $2.5 million bail and has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
