On the evening of December 30, 2014, the life of a 24-year-old Hispanic male named Jesus Chuito M. Silva was cut short in a fatal shooting in New Britain, Connecticut. Police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle near Yeaton Street and Farmington Avenue around 7:48 p.m. Inside the car, they discovered Silva, unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the medical examiner later confirmed that he had died from a gunshot wound, ruling his death a homicide.
Investigators
soon uncovered a complex plot that led to Silva's death, revealing it was a murder for hire rooted in a large-scale drug trafficking operation. The investigation showed that a man named Hector Cardona-Diaz, based in Puerto Rico, was supplying cocaine to Silva and others in the Hartford and Springfield areas. The drugs were concealed in ceramic moldings and shipped via U.S. Mail. Silva and others would then send the cash proceeds back to Cardona-Diaz. The situation took a deadly turn after investigators seized two packages in November 2014 containing approximately $40,000 in drug money that had been mailed to Cardona-Diaz. Believing Silva had taken a large sum of cash from the enterprise, Cardona-Diaz hired a man named Jesus Sierra from Springfield, Massachusetts, to kill him. The payment for the killing was reportedly $5,000 and the promise of future cocaine shipments.
To carry out the murder, Sierra enlisted the help of another Springfield man, Joel Jaquez, who provided the firearm. Sierra promised to give Jaquez a portion of the money he was set to receive from Cardona-Diaz. On the day of the murder, Sierra lured Silva under the pretense of purchasing a car from him in Meriden. Sierra and Silva then drove together to New Britain, supposedly to have a mechanic inspect the vehicle. Jaquez followed them in a separate car. Once in New Britain, Sierra shot and killed Silva.
The investigation led to the arrests of the individuals involved. Joel Jaquez was arrested in May 2015. At the time of his arrest for the murder, he was already in custody as a fugitive from justice on unrelated charges out of Florida. Jesus Sierra-Ramos was also apprehended. Both Jaquez and Sierra eventually pleaded guilty to one count of murder for hire by interstate travel resulting in death. Hector Cardona-Diaz was found guilty by a jury on charges including conspiracy to commit murder for hire resulting in death. In February 2021, Joel Jaquez was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for his role in the killing.
