A Hartford man who fled to Florida after fatally shooting his cousin over a drug deal in 2018 has been sentenced following a murder conviction.
Vincent Jonathan Etwaroo, 30, was sentenced on Monday by Judge Kevin C. Doyle to 40 years in prison, according to a statement from the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.
On April 30, a Hartford Superior Court jury found Etwaroo guilty of murder in connection with the death of 27-year-old Randolph Paidama of Hartford, court records show.
According to court records, on Aug. 20, 2018, Hartford Police Department officers responded to a ShotSpotter notification of seven rounds of gunfire in the area of 592 Garden Street.
Arriving officers found Paidama suffering from gunshot wounds. Despite life-saving efforts at the scene, he was pronounced dead, court records show.
A few days after the shooting, a family member told police they were hanging out with Etwaroo and Paidama on Aug. 20 when Etwaroo allegedly brokered a sale of Paidama’s marijuana that was supposed to take place on Garden Street, the warrant affidavit said.
The cousins were arguing in the car on the way with Paidama allegedly saying Etwaroo was being “too greedy” about how much to charge, the family member told police. Paidama allegedly told Etwaroo he would “cut Jonathan off” and not help with his drug deals anymore, according to the warrant affidavit.
When the men arrived on Garden Street, they exited the car and the family member alleged that Etwaroo brandished a handgun before Paidama asked Etwaroo if he would really shoot him, according to the family member.
Etwaroo reportedly fired at Paidama multiple times before he and the family member fled in the Acura TL, the warrant affidavit said. Police located the car the next day in Etwaroo’s parents’ garage, court records show.
According to court records, officers later found a live round matching the bullets that killed Paidama inside the front passenger area.
Etwaroo, who fled Connecticut shortly after the shooting, was captured by U.S. Marshals at the Miami airport on Sept. 3, 2021 and extradited to Connecticut a week later and charged with murder.
Following the trial, State’s Attorney Sharmese L. Walcott thanked the trial team and Hartford Police Department for their work on this case and expressed condolences to the victim’s family.
“While no sentence will ever undo the heartache and family division caused by this crime, our hope is that this outcome brings some solace to a family that has been waiting over seven years for this day,” State’s Attorney Walcott said.