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Third man involved in 2009 kidnapping and murder sentenced to life in prison

HARTFORD — A Hartford man will serve a life sentence for the kidnapping and murder of a West Hartford man in January of 2009. Charles Teasley, 35, was found sho...
Charles Teasley

HARTFORD — A Hartford man will serve a life sentence for the kidnapping and murder of a West Hartford man in January of 2009.

Charles Teasley, 35, was found shot and killed on Colebrook Street in Hartford on January 12, 2009 and his murder was classified as a cold case.

Terrell Hunter, also known as “Rell” and “Killer,” 38, of Hartford, was sentenced Monday.

The indictment said on January 12, 2009, Hartford Police responded to Colebrook Street in Hartford in response to a citizen’s report of a dead body in the back seat of a vehicle parked on the side of the road. Teasley had multiple gunshot wounds to his head and face, and his hands were zip-tied behind his back.

The investigation revealed that Gerund Mickens, Harold Cook, Terrell Hunter and Jesus Ashanti were involved in committing armed robberies of persons they believed to be drug dealers operating in the greater Hartford area.  On January 9, 2009, an individual advised Cook that he had arranged to conduct a cocaine transaction with Teasley.  The individual provided the particulars of the planned transaction to Cook so that Teasley could be kidnapped and robbed of drugs and money.  After the individual met with Teasley at the approximate time and location he had provided to Cook, Cook, Mickens, Hunter and Ashanti went to the location and kidnapped Teasley by using zip-ties to bind his hands and forcing him back into the rear seat of  his own vehicle.  In the vehicle, they threatened Teasley at gunpoint, assaulted him and forced him to make a telephone call directing his girlfriend to bring to Cook, Mickens, Hunter and Ashanti a safe that Teasley had kept at his and his girlfriend’s West Hartford residence.  They drove to the residence and acquired the safe.  Cook, Mickens and Hunter then drove Teasley to the Colebrook Street area of Hartford, and Ashanti followed them in a separate car.  On the way, Hunter and Cook shot Teasley in the head causing his death.  After arriving on Colebrook Street, Cook, Mickens and Hunter left the Acura and Teasley’s body, and then fled the area in the car driven by Ashanti.

Cook, Mickens and Hunter have been detained since their arrests on April 4, 2017.  On August 21, 2018, a jury found them guilty of one count of kidnapping resulting in death, one count of using a firearm during a kidnapping and causing a death, and one count of using a firearm during a Hobbs Act robbery and causing a death.

Earlier this month, Judge Underhill sentenced both Cook and Mickens to life in prison.

Ashanti pleaded guilty to related charges on July 16, 2018, and awaits sentencing.

Teasley’s story was included in cold case playing cards sold to inmates in Connecticut’s state correctional facilities. Each card in the deck features a photograph and brief details about a homicide or missing person case and lists telephone, mail and e-mail contacts that inmates can use to supply information.

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