On the evening of August 29, 2021, a young man's life was cut short in a burst of violence on an I-91 off-ramp in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Dominique Kendrick Miller, a 22-year-old male from Bloomfield, was found unresponsive in the driver's seat of a distinctive red Polaris Slingshot he had rented to celebrate his upcoming 23rd birthday. He had been shot multiple times in the head and neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The brazen nature of the killing, described as 'execution-style' by a judge, sent shockwaves through the community.
The investigation that followed was complex, involving numerous witnesses and extensive analysis of video surveillance and cell phone records. It was discovered that two men, Kwanze Fluker and Emmanuel Floyd, had meticulously planned and carried out the murder. For over an hour, they trailed Miller through Bloomfield and onto the highway, their movements coordinated by hundreds of phone calls in the days leading up to the shooting, including a 90-minute call that took place during the tragic event itself. The motive for this calculated act of violence was believed to be rooted in gang-related retaliation, with suggestions that Miller was targeted due to his association with a Bloomfield gang known as Get Money Majors.
The pursuit of justice was relentless. Five days after the murder, when state police attempted to apprehend Kwanze Fluker, he led them on a chase, ramming his vehicle into multiple police cars and civilian vehicles before abandoning his car in East Hartford and setting it ablaze in a desperate attempt to destroy evidence. Despite his efforts, investigators were able to connect him to the crime. Emmanuel Floyd, the man who admitted to firing the fatal shots, later testified that he acted at Fluker's urging, stating he was afraid of him. In a bid for a more lenient sentence, Floyd pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Kwanze Fluker, considered the mastermind of the conspiracy, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and second-degree arson. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role in the killing that silenced a young father and former high school football standout.
