On the evening of May 16, 2016, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet of an East Hartford neighborhood. When police arrived at Rector Street around 11:15 p.m. to investigate reports of shots fired, they discovered 35-year-old Marshall Wiggins, a Black male, inside a car, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Hartford Hospital, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the death of Wiggins led authorities to a suspect, 27-year-old Michael
Gaston of Hartford. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and in a multi-state effort, Gaston was located and apprehended in Clinton, Massachusetts, in the early morning hours of May 26, 2016. He was taken into custody without incident and held as a fugitive from justice pending his extradition back to Connecticut.
Gaston faced a series of serious charges in connection with the death of Marshall Wiggins. These charges included murder, felony murder, first-degree robbery, criminal possession of a gun, and carrying a gun without a permit, suggesting a violent confrontation that ended in the loss of a life.
