Press Releases
07/22/2024
Brandon Letman Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2016 Murders of Ashley Spence and Cameron Mounds Jr. in Hartford
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Rocky Hill, CT) – Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin announced today that the Honorable Michael J. Gustafson on July 18, 2024 sentenced Brandon Letman, age 31, to life in prison without the possibility of release for the 2016 fatal shootings of Ashley Spence, age 21, and Cameron Mounds Jr., age 19, in Hartford.
A jury in Hartford Superior Court on May 9, 2024 found Letman guilty of two counts of Murder in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54a, Murder with Special Circumstances (Multiple Victims) in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-54b(7), Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-217(a)(1), two counts of Tampering with a Witness in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-151, and Conspiracy to Commit Tampering with a Witness in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-48/53a-122.
In addition to the sentence of life in prison, Letman received an additional prison sentence of 10 years in prison, to run consecutively to the life sentence, for the Tampering with a Witness charges.
According to evidence at trial, Hartford police responding to a call on Enfield Street in Hartford on the evening of June 21, 2016 found the victims outside suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. In 2019, Letman was charged in connection with the case following a joint investigation by the Cold Case Unit of the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office, the Hartford Police Department and the Connecticut Department of Correction. The extensive investigation included following up with multiple witnesses who had information about the fatal shootings.
Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney John F. Fahey, head of the Cold Case Unit, and Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Robin Krawczyk, who both prosecuted the case, are grateful to investigators in the Cold Case Unit, the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office, the Hartford Police Department and the Connecticut Department of Correction, with a special thank you to Officer Kevin Rival who listened to more than 4,900 telephone calls instrumental in the investigation of the witness tampering charges.
“We in the Cold Case Unit, as well as members of the victims’ families, are grateful to Judge Gustafson for his careful consideration of the sentence in this case," Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Fahey said. “We are also grateful for the judge’s thoughtful consideration and imposition of a sentence for the witness tampering charges because witness tampering interferes with the administration of justice.”
The Cold Case Unit is comprised of prosecutors and investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice who work closely on cold cases with the Connecticut State Police and municipal police departments. The Cold Case Unit in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney currently includes Inspectors from the Division of Criminal Justice as well as investigators from the Hartford Police Department, Connecticut Department of Correction and other local police departments. For more information about the Unit, visit the Division of Criminal Justice’s website or the Unit’s Facebook page.