UConn Police make 3 arrests

More than a week after students awoke to find out a Husky was stabbed on campus, many were relieved to learn police arrested the man they say killed football star Jasper Howard.

Before a packed room full of state and national media, University of Connecticut police said they caught the man - Bloomfield resident John William Lomax III - they believe stabbed UConn’s starting cornerback.

As news spread across campus, UConn students - many of whom spent recent days mourning Howard’s passing - breathed easier.

“I feel kind of relieved,” said UConn freshman Ariel Agron of Hartford as he visibly, and audibly, breathed a sigh of relief.

Lomax and his neighbor, Hakim Muhammad, were expected to be arraigned in Rockville Superior Court this morning for their connection to the brutal, on-campus killing of the football star.

Lomax, 21, of 28 Barry Circle, Bloomfield, was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit assault in the first degree.

Muhammad, 20, of 11 Barry Circle, Bloomfield, was charged with conspiracy to commit assault in the first degree.

Neither man is a UConn student.

Hartford-based lawyer Deron Freeman, who is representing Lomax, said his client denies any involvement in the altercation that resulted in Howard’s death.
UConn police and state police announced Tuesday they were granted arrest warrants for Lomax and Muhammad Monday - the same day Howard was laid to rest in Miami.

“There’s no system of justice to bring back someone who’s been taken from us,” said Department of Public Safety Commissioner John A. Danaher III at Tuesday’s press conference, adding police would continue to work until “justice is done.”

Howard, 20, of Miami, died from a single stab wound to the abdomen Oct. 18.
UConn Police Maj. Ronald Blicher said the arrests are the result of more than 200 interviews done by approximately 40 investigators assigned to the case.
Aside from announcing the men arrested and their charges, Blicher would not comment further Tuesday. He said the arrest warrants and affidavits were sealed.

Howard was attending a West Indian Student Organization party in the Student Union when a fire alarm was activated at 12:26 a.m. that Sunday.

In addition to the two being arraigned today, Jamal Todd, 21, of 75 Hampton St., Hartford, was charged with falsely reporting an incident and reckless endangerment. He is due in Rockville Superior Court Nov. 10.

Todd is a student at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.

Police said Tuesday Todd pulled the fire alarm that evacuated the Student Union, but did not indicate any involvement with the murder and altercation itself.

As nearly 300 students and non-students were evacuated, an altercation broke out between a group of students and non-students. It was during that altercation Howard was stabbed.

The state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Howard’s death a homicide.

Shortly after Tuesday’s press conference, UConn students learned arrests had been made in Howard’s case.

University officials alerted students of the arrests through the campus alert system of e-mail, text messages and updates on university web pages.

Agron said he was glad to hear of the arrests, saying the campus has not been the same since the murder.

“It’s been kind of difficult,” he said. “We were coming from areas where we were used to this stuff, we tried to escape those kinds of things.”

Agron was referring to students who come to Storrs from rough, urban neighborhoods where violence runs rampant.

According to Agron, some of his friends and other students had been afraid to go out at night knowing the killer was still at large.

Other students agreed with Agron.

Sasha Gauley, a senior from Haddam, said she was glad police did not rush theinvestigation.

Gauley said it was “reassuring” police took their time to collect evidence before arresting anyone. She said she thought the pace of the case would result in the correct conviction.

“It’s a sense of relief,” she said outside the Student Union building, near where Howard was killed.

With the campus community learning of the arrests, university officials said they hope the news represents some security for students.

“Nothing can replace the void in our hearts left by (Howard’s) death,” said UConn President Michael Hogan. “Yet, I know that many of you will feel reassured by today’s news.”

He said Howard’s death - and the subsequent arrests - could result in a more tightly knit UConn family.

“Becoming a more caring and compassionate community out of this tragedy is perhaps one of the best ways we can honor Jasper’s memory,” he said. “I’m so proud to be a part of this wonderful UConn community, which stands together in good and difficult times.”