On the evening of March 30, 2019, a 26-year-old Black/African American male named Stephon Walthrust from Queens, New York, was fatally shot in Stamford, Connecticut. Walthrust was discovered in the driver's seat of his car on Garden Street, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The driver's side windows of the vehicle had been shot out. First responders arrived at the scene shortly after 10:40 p.m. following reports of gunfire.
Walthrust was transported to Stamford Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. This incident marked the city's first homicide of the year.
The investigation into Walthrust's death led authorities to Rashad Sellers, a 27-year-old man with residences in Bridgeport and West Haven. The two men had met in 2018 while incarcerated together in Connecticut and had maintained contact after their release. On the day of the shooting, phone records indicated that Walthrust had tried to contact Sellers over 30 times and had also called Sellers' girlfriend 13 times. Friends of Walthrust later testified that he had driven to Connecticut that night to collect a debt from Sellers.
Through a combination of police work and modern techniques, investigators identified Sellers as the primary suspect. Surveillance footage from the area showed a vehicle, later identified as Sellers', parking a block away from the crime scene. A person matching Sellers' description was seen exiting the vehicle, walking toward Garden Street, and then running back to the car minutes after the gunshots were heard. The vehicle then left the area and got back on the highway. Sellers' probation and parole officers were able to identify him from clear images captured by business cameras in the vicinity. On April 12, 2019, the same day funeral services were being held for Walthrust, Rashad Sellers was arrested without incident in Norwalk. He was subsequently charged with murder and criminal use of a firearm.
In July 2023, a jury found Rashad Sellers guilty of the murder of Stephon Walthrust. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that included the surveillance footage and cell phone data placing Sellers at the scene. Testimony also revealed that in the days following the shooting, Sellers had changed his phone number and repeatedly searched for news about the homicide on social media. Traces of lead, a component of gunshot residue, were found on a jacket and jogging pants seized from Sellers' home that matched the clothing seen on the suspect in the surveillance video. On October 2, 2023, a judge sentenced Sellers to 50 years in prison for what was described as a "cold-blooded" and "calculated" murder.
