On a spring afternoon in Ansonia, Connecticut, a 20-year-old Black male named Johnny Class was fatally shot in what police described as a robbery gone wrong. On April 5, 2022, Class was a passenger in a silver Honda, accompanying a friend who had arranged to sell marijuana to a buyer on Hubbell Avenue. The meeting, set up through the social media app Snapchat, quickly turned violent.
Around 12:50 p.m., after the potential buyer examined the marijuana, he and two other individuals attempted to rob the occupants of the vehicle. During the attempted robbery, a firearm was discharged, and Class was struck by a bullet. The driver of the Honda sped away from the scene and stopped on Main Street near Kingston Drive, where he called 911 to report that his friend had been shot. Emergency services arrived to find Class in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the death of Johnny Class led to the identification and arrest of three suspects. Monteral Crews, who was 17 at the time, was identified as the individual who arranged the drug deal and one of the alleged shooters. He fled to North Carolina after the incident but was apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in May 2022. A second suspect, Errol Salkey, who was also 17, was arrested in March 2023. The third suspect, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, was arrested in August 2023.
All three suspects, Monteral Crews, Errol Salkey, and the third individual, are being tried as adults and face serious charges, including felony murder, murder, and criminal attempt at first-degree robbery. Investigators used evidence from the crime scene, including a recovered shell casing, as well as cell phone records, witness testimony, and surveillance footage to link the suspects to the crime. The investigation revealed that after the shooting, Crews had called for an Uber to leave the area. All three suspects are currently in custody.
