FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Hartford, CT) – Sharmese L. Walcott, State’s Attorney for the Hartford Judicial District, announced that the Honorable Kevin C. Doyle today sentenced Troy Hayes, age 47, of Bloomfield, to 55 years in prison for the 2020 murder of Dyshawn Copeland and the assault of a second victim.
A Hartford Superior Court jury on September 25, 2023 found Hayes guilty of the crimes of Murder in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54a and Assault in the First Degree in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-59(a)(3).
Evidence presented at trial showed that on the evening of May 21, 2020, police received a 911 call from the female victim reporting that she and her friend had been stabbed. Officers responding to 40 Sherman Street in Hartford found Mr. Copeland lying on steps inside of the building. Mr. Copeland and the female victim were transported to the hospital where Mr. Copeland succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.
The surviving victim told detectives that she and Mr. Copeland were inside her apartment waiting on a food delivery. Thinking the delivery driver arrived, the female victim went to the door where the defendant was waiting. The defendant entered the building and the female victim ran after him as Hayes rushed to her apartment to confront Mr. Copeland. The defendant poured wine over Mr. Copeland’s head and fatally stabbed him. The defendant then tried to stab the female victim but she managed to defend herself, suffering stab wounds to the arm. During the trial, multiple witnesses testified that they saw a man on a red scooter in the area at the time of the incident and surveillance video footage nearby also showed the defendant driving his red scooter.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Danielle O’Connell, with the assistance of Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Riley, Inspector Emory Hightower, and Paralegal Specialist Kelly De La Cruz.