Southington Man Convicted In Connection With 2020 Hartford Shooting: Feds

SOUTHINGTON/HARTFORD, CT — A Southington man was convicted in federal court last Friday on gun/narcotics offenses associated with a 2020 shooting in Hartford.

David X. Sullivan, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, announced Monday that on Friday, Nov. 21, a federal jury in New Haven found Eric D. Cox, 42, of Southington, guilty of firearm and narcotics offenses stemming from the shooting.

According to the evidence introduced during the trial, on Sept. 4, 2020, Cox engaged in a violent altercation near Hartford Hospital in Hartford.

Sullivan said, during the altercation in which Cox was slashed with a knife, Cox pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots at the individual who slashed him and others in the vicinity.

That, he said, resulted in a bystander being shot multiple times.

Hartford police responded to the incident and found several cartridge casings on Jefferson Street where the stabbing and shooting occurred, and a hospital employee found a discarded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol outside the entrance of the hospital’s emergency department and notified law enforcement, Sullivan said.

Police searched Cox’s car after the incident and found a bag containing approximately 28 grams of cocaine, according to Sullivan.

Subsequent analysis of the firearm revealed the presence of Cox’s DNA, authorities said.

Cox’s criminal history includes a federal conviction in 2008 for a crack cocaine distribution offense for which he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

The jury, Sullivan said, found Cox guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and possession of cocaine, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of two years.

Cox is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing, which is not scheduled.

For more information on the case, click on this link.