Zackery Cody Franklin: Four Connecticut Homicides
Overview
Zackery Cody Franklin is a Connecticut murderer whose criminal cases involved four separate homicides committed between December 2007 and July 2011. The killings occurred in New Haven and Waterbury and were not part of one continuous incident. Instead, prosecutors described them as separate crimes connected largely by robbery, attempted robbery, firearms, and Franklin himself. Court records sometimes spell his first name as “Zackery” and sometimes as “Zachery.” Although Franklin has been described as a serial killer because of the number of separate killings attributed to him, “serial killer” was not a criminal charge; he was prosecuted through individual homicide cases.
Known Victims and Verified Dates
- Jeremiah Johnson, 32 — December 15, 2007 — near the entrance to East Rock Park, New Haven, Connecticut, close to the Hamden town line. Johnson was found near Farnam Drive after being shot. Prosecutors later described the killing as arising from what was supposed to be a drug transaction. Franklin ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Johnson’s death.
- Ryan Oneil Barnaby, 34 — May 23, 2011 — Edgewood Park, New Haven, Connecticut. Barnaby, a Waterbury resident, entered the park during what prosecutors said was supposed to be a transaction in which he would sell Franklin a firearm. He was killed that night, although his body was not discovered until the early morning of May 24 after an extensive search of the park. Franklin later pleaded guilty to murder.
- Luis Cruz — July 8, 2011 — Boyden Street near Hanover Street, Waterbury, Connecticut. Cruz was driving a two-seat, three-wheeled T-Rex motorcycle when he was attacked shortly after 1:30 a.m. A Connecticut appellate court later upheld Franklin’s murder conviction for the killing.
- John-Claude James Sr., 26 — July 9, 2011 — Howard Avenue and Putnam Street, New Haven, Connecticut. James was shot near the parking lot behind 518–526 Howard Avenue shortly before 6 p.m. He was transported to a hospital but died shortly afterward. Franklin was convicted of murder and related offenses.
The Killing of Jeremiah Johnson
The earliest of the four homicides occurred on December 15, 2007, when Franklin was still a teenager. Jeremiah Johnson, 32, was found near the entrance to East Rock Park along the New Haven-Hamden boundary. A passing motorist noticed what appeared to be a body near the roadway and alerted police. Johnson had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators eventually developed evidence against Franklin and another man, and murder warrants were obtained several years after the killing.
At Franklin’s later sentencing, prosecutors described Johnson’s death as the result of a transaction involving drugs. Instead of completing the expected transaction, prosecutors said Franklin shot Johnson. Franklin was originally charged with murder and felony murder but eventually resolved the case by pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter. In February 2015, he received a 25-year sentence for Johnson’s death.
The Killing of Ryan Oneil Barnaby
On the night of May 23, 2011, Ryan Oneil Barnaby traveled to Edgewood Park in New Haven. Investigators said the meeting had been arranged because Barnaby intended to sell Franklin a gun. A witness reported seeing Barnaby enter the park and later hearing a gunshot. Authorities searched the large park for hours before finding Barnaby’s body early on May 24 in an area near the park’s duck pond.
Police developed evidence that the gun transaction had effectively been used to place Barnaby in an isolated location. Investigators eventually obtained a warrant for Franklin in February 2012, while he was already incarcerated in connection with other killings. Franklin was charged in March 2012 and later pleaded guilty to murder. On February 23, 2015, he received a 30-year sentence in the Barnaby case.
The Murder of Luis Cruz
The Waterbury murder of Luis Cruz on July 8, 2011 became one of the most extensively documented of Franklin’s cases because the Connecticut Appellate Court later summarized the evidence in detail. During the evening of July 7, Cruz was driving a distinctive two-seat, three-wheeled vehicle known as a T-Rex. A passenger, James Beaulieu, was riding with him. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on July 8, the T-Rex reached the Boyden Street area of Waterbury.
Witnesses saw a black Acura close to the T-Rex. Two men approached after leaving the Acura, and gunfire began as Cruz attempted to move the vehicle away. The T-Rex crashed into a stop sign. Beaulieu managed to escape and run from the area while shots were also fired in his direction. Cruz remained with the T-Rex and was shot multiple times. Emergency personnel were dispatched within minutes and Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation included witness accounts, nearby surveillance recordings, telephone records, the black Acura, and firearms evidence. Investigators also connected evidence from the Waterbury scene with firearm evidence recovered during an investigation in New Haven. During Franklin’s later incarceration, another inmate testified that Franklin discussed the Waterbury killing and described an intention to steal the T-Rex and property worn by Cruz. A jury convicted Franklin of murder, attempted first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a firearm. He received a 75-year sentence, and the Connecticut Appellate Court later upheld his convictions.
The Murder of John-Claude James
Only one day after Cruz’s death, another fatal shooting occurred in New Haven. On July 9, 2011, John-Claude James Sr., 26, was in the Howard Avenue and Putnam Street area. Court records state that shortly before the shooting James was wearing a gold chain with a distinctive medallion. Prosecutors presented evidence that Franklin had discussed obtaining the chain and that robbery was the motive behind the confrontation.
At about 6 p.m., emergency responders were called to Howard Avenue after reports of gunfire. James was discovered near the entrance to a parking lot behind a group of residences. He had been shot several times and was taken to a hospital, where he died shortly afterward. An eyewitness who knew both Franklin and James identified Franklin as the shooter. Other testimony and circumstantial evidence concerned Franklin’s interest in James’s jewelry, his movements immediately after the shooting, and his subsequent departure from Connecticut.
Franklin was ultimately arrested in Virginia in November 2011 and returned to Connecticut. A New Haven jury found him guilty of murder, felony murder, and robbery or attempted first-degree robbery, while a judge also found him guilty of firearm offenses. The murder and felony-murder counts were later handled as legally overlapping convictions, and an appellate court reversed the separate felony-murder conviction while leaving the murder conviction and other major portions of the judgment intact. Franklin’s effective sentence in the James case was 65 years.
Investigation, Arrest, and Prosecution
By 2012, authorities were publicly describing Franklin as a defendant connected to four separate homicides. The cases had developed at different speeds: Johnson’s 2007 killing remained under investigation for years, while the three 2011 killings produced evidence and arrests more rapidly. Investigators in New Haven and Waterbury exchanged information as similarities emerged, particularly firearms evidence and people associated with a black Acura.
The prosecutions ultimately ended through a combination of jury verdicts and guilty pleas. Franklin was convicted after trial of murdering John-Claude James and Luis Cruz. He later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Jeremiah Johnson and to murder in the death of Ryan Barnaby. His James case produced an effective 65-year sentence, while the Cruz case resulted in 75 years. In February 2015, a judge imposed 25 years for Johnson and 30 years for Barnaby. Those later terms were ordered to run concurrently with one another and with Franklin’s already enormous prison sentences, meaning that the earlier 140-year effective imprisonment from the James and Cruz cases remained the controlling practical sentence.
The Pattern of the Crimes
Although each homicide had different circumstances, robbery or the acquisition of valuable property repeatedly appeared in the evidence. Johnson’s death was associated with a drug transaction; Barnaby was killed after arriving for a planned firearm sale; Cruz was attacked in a case prosecutors linked to an attempt to obtain his unusual T-Rex motorcycle and personal property; and James was killed in a case in which prosecutors presented evidence concerning his gold chain. The victims were killed in separate incidents over a period of more than three and a half years, with the final three deaths occurring within less than two months of one another in 2011.
The four cases left Franklin facing imprisonment far beyond a normal lifetime. More importantly, they represented four separate victims whose deaths affected families in New Haven, Waterbury, and beyond. Court proceedings eventually established Franklin’s criminal responsibility through two murder trials and two guilty pleas, turning a series of initially separate homicide investigations into one of Connecticut’s more unusual multiple-homicide prosecution histories.
