On a tragic evening in Manchester, Connecticut, the life of 28-year-old Brittany S. Mills, a Black / African American woman, was cut short. On December 7, 2013, Mills was fatally shot in her apartment at the Dye House complex on Pine Street. A graduate of Weaver High School, where she was a standout basketball player, she was working with special needs children and was the loving mother to a 13-month-old son.
The perpetrator was identified as 41-year-old John Louis Lynn, Mills's former
partner and the father of her child. Their five-year, on-again, off-again relationship had recently ended, and there were ongoing disputes regarding child support. Mills had been trying to prevent Lynn from visiting her residence in the weeks leading up to the incident. On that fatal night, two of Mills's cousins, 23-year-old Kameisha Mills and 46-year-old Artara Benson, had gone to check on her after she failed to answer her phone.
Upon their arrival, Lynn was present at the apartment and proceeded to fatally shoot all three women. When police responded to reports of gunfire, they found Lynn in the parking lot, armed and holding his and Brittany's young son. After a brief confrontation with officers, Lynn placed the child on the ground unharmed before taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot. The investigation confirmed that Lynn was the sole suspect in the triple murder-suicide. Lynn had a history of assault and drug convictions and had been arrested for disorderly conduct during a domestic argument with Mills months prior to the killings.
