Press Releases
10/12/2023
Judge Sentences Bloomfield Man Convicted of Charges of Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Arson and Evidence Tampering
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Hartford, CT) – Sharmese L. Walcott, Hartford State’s Attorney, announced that Kwanze Fluker, age 27, of Bloomfield, was sentenced today by the Honorable Carl. J. Schuman to a total effective sentence of 35 years in prison for his role in the fatal shooting of Dominique Miller in Windsor Locks in August 2021.
A Hartford Superior Court jury on August 4, 2023 found Fluker guilty of the crimes of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § § 53a-48/53a-54a(a), Arson in the Second Degree in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-112a(1)(B) and Tampering with Physical Evidence in violation of Connecticut General Statutes § 53a-155(a)(1).
According to evidence introduced at trial, the defendant conspired with Emmanuel Floyd as they worked in unison to follow, lie in wait and ultimately fatally shoot Mr. Miller, age 22, of Bloomfield, as he sat waiting in a 2020 Polaris Slingshot for a traffic control light in Windsor Locks on August 29, 2021. Video surveillance and cell phone analysis records showed that on that date, both defendants followed the victim for over an hour around Bloomfield, onto I-91, and to the Exit 42 highway ramp where numerous shots were fired at the victim. The victim died of gunshot wounds to his head and neck.
Further evidence showed hundreds of phone calls between the two defendants in the days leading up to the murder including a 90-minute call up to and during the time of the shooting on August 29, 2021. Evidence showed there were photos of the victim taken from social media screenshotted on Floyd’s phone before and after the murder as well as internet searches on his phone of the murder scene, guns, the speed of a Polaris Slingshot and car washes. On September 3, 2021, when the State Police attempted to stop Fluker in the vehicle he was driving at the time of the murder, Fluker rammed his vehicle into multiple state trooper vehicles and vehicles both occupied and unoccupied by civilians in Hartford. Fluker evaded State Police in Hartford and fled to East Hartford where he set his car on fire in an attempt to conceal his involvement in the murder. DNA evidence recovered from the car as well as video surveillance evidence connected Fluker to the crimes.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant State’s Attorney Samantha Magnani.
"Assistant State's Attorney Magnani had frequent contact with the victim's family and asked the Court for a sentence that captures the atrocious nature of the crime and addresses the pain endured by Mr. Miller's family," State's Attorney Walcott said. "The Court’s sentence is significant and commensurate with the conduct engaged in by the defendant."