(Litchfield, CT) - Litchfield Judicial District State’s Attorney David R. Shannon today announced that a Superior Court jury on September 12, 2024, found Alec J. Cleveland, age 29, of Winsted, guilty of the crimes of Manslaughter in the Second Degree with a Motor Vehicle, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-56b, and Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence Drugs or Alcohol, in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 14-227a(a). The Honorable Eliot D. Prescott presided over the jury trial.
According to evidence introduced at trial, the defendant, who claimed to have been the passenger at the time of the crash, was operating a motor vehicle on Route 263, also known as Ashley Road, in Winchester on September 28, 2020, when he lost control of the vehicle, traveled off the roadway and rolled over. His only passenger was partially ejected and trapped under the vehicle. Evidence presented at trial included testimony from witnesses who placed the decedent in the passenger seat just before the crash, records showing the defendant's blood alcohol content was almost three times the legal limit at the time of the crash, and DNA evidence.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 8, 2024 in Litchfield Superior Court in Torrington.
The case was investigated by the Winchester Police Department and the Connecticut State Police Collision and Analysis Reconstruction Squad (C.A.R.S.), and was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Karen Roberg, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Melissa Brewer, and Inspector Forrest J. Beaulieu.
State’s Attorney Shannon would like to thank the Winchester Police Department, the Connecticut State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Squad (C.A.R.S.), and the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Scientific Services, for their work and dedication in this investigation.