A 16-year-old on a video call reportedly watched herself collapse, while a friend on the other end captured the gunshot that prosecutors later labeled an “attempted execution.” The young man accused of pulling the trigger will be in his twenties when he finishes the prison term he just received.
A FaceTime Call Turned Into Evidence
According to a detailed report by Law&Crime, which cites Hartford police records, online court dockets, and reporting by the Hartford Courant, 18-year-old Jayzon Gunter was in a Hartford residence in September 2024 with his 16-year-old girlfriend when an argument escalated.
Prosecutors told the court that the teenager was on FaceTime with a friend. That friend began recording as the situation became tense. In that footage, prosecutors said, Gunter can be seen holding a handgun against the side of his girlfriend’s head, then firing a single shot.
The girl was struck in the head. Law&Crime reports that she was rushed to a hospital and placed in a medically induced coma. Her current medical condition has not been publicly detailed in the outlets that have covered the case.
From Attempted Murder Charge To Plea Deal
Police later arrested Gunter on an unrelated warrant and then tied him to the shooting through witness accounts, medical statements, and the nickname the victim used for her assailant. He was initially charged with attempted murder after prosecutors accused him of trying to kill his girlfriend following a dispute over a phone call she had placed to his “babies mama,” according to the Law&Crime summary of the case.
Instead of going to trial on attempted murder, Gunter, now 19, entered a guilty plea to two lesser offenses. Online court records cited by Law&Crime show that he pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault and attempted third-degree strangulation.
Attempted first-degree assault is tied to Connecticut’s assault statute, General Statutes 53a-59, through the state’s general attempt law, 53a-49. Attempted third-degree strangulation relates to 53a-64cc, which covers strangulation or suffocation in the third degree. These statutes confirm that both are criminal offenses under Connecticut law and that strangulation is specifically recognized as a separate crime.
On those charges, a judge sentenced Gunter to eight years in prison, followed by three years of probation. According to Law&Crime, the structure of the sentence includes an additional 12-year suspended term that could be imposed if he violates his probation. In practical terms, that means the court has authority to send him back to prison for many years if he reoffends or fails to follow probation conditions.
Prosecutors in the case have described the shooting as an “attempted execution” of a 16-year-old girl. The plea agreement, however, means there was no trial and no jury verdict on the original attempted murder allegation.
What Witnesses And Records Describe
The version of events presented to the court and reported by Law&Crime rests heavily on what witnesses, medical staff, and the victim herself told investigators.
A woman who was inside the residence at the time reported hearing a “loud bang” from a bedroom. When she went to check, she told investigators she found the teenager on the floor, spitting and vomiting blood and bleeding from her head. This witness account, cited by Law&Crime as coming from documents summarized by the Hartford Courant, aligns with the prosecution narrative that the victim was shot at close range.
Another witness told police that before the shot was fired, Gunter wrapped a phone cord around his girlfriend’s neck and tried to strangle her. That description is consistent with the strangulation-related charge that remained part of the plea, although the public reporting does not specify precisely which facts Gunter formally admitted during his allocution in court.
At the hospital, while being treated, the victim told a nurse that the person who shot her used the nickname “Rich Rack.” Police already knew that Gunter used that alias, according to the Law&Crime report. She also identified the shooter by his first name. Identification through an alias and first name is a common feature in assault and shooting cases, and here it reportedly became part of the basis for charging Gunter.
When officers located Gunter at a different residence and took him into custody on the unrelated warrant, he initially admitted being present at the scene of the shooting but denied pulling the trigger. Law&Crime reports that he told police he simply heard a “shot” from the bedroom. That statement remained in the investigative record even after he later chose to plead guilty to the assault and strangulation counts.
How The Law And The Sentence Fit Together
The shift from an attempted murder charge to attempted assault and attempted strangulation is central to understanding why Gunter’s prison term is eight years rather than a much longer period.
Under Connecticut law, murder is covered by 53a-54a and is among the state’s most serious felonies. Attempt crimes are punished under 53a-49. That framework means an attempted murder conviction can carry a significantly longer potential sentence than the assault and strangulation counts to which Gunter ultimately pleaded.
By accepting a plea to attempted first-degree assault and attempted third-degree strangulation, prosecutors still secured a felony conviction and a multi-year prison term. The defense avoided the risk of a trial on a higher charge with greater potential exposure. The public reporting available through Law&Crime and the references to the Hartford Courant does not provide a detailed explanation from prosecutors or the judge about why they accepted or approved this particular plea agreement.
Connecticut’s strangulation statute explicitly recognizes non-fatal strangulation as a distinct offense. Advocates for survivors of intimate partner violence have long argued that strangulation is a strong predictor of future lethal violence. The inclusion of attempted third-degree strangulation in the plea reflects that the state treated the reported phone cord incident as criminal conduct, not just background to the shooting.
What We Still Do Not Know
Many key pieces of the case remain outside public view. The FaceTime recording described in court has not been released publicly. The victim’s long-term prognosis, ongoing medical needs, and whether she or her family addressed the court at sentencing have not been detailed in the coverage available so far.
It is also not clear from the reporting what specific weaknesses, if any, prosecutors saw in their original attempted murder case, or what mitigating factors the defense presented that may have influenced the plea negotiations. Those discussions usually happen at the courthouse but off the public record.
What is clear from court records and the reporting summarized by Law&Crime is that a 16-year-old survived a gunshot to the head that prosecutors called an “attempted execution,” and that the person who admitted to assaulting and attempting to strangle her will one day leave prison. How that balance between plea bargaining, punishment, and protection will be judged in the years ahead will depend in part on what happens after Gunter’s eight-year sentence and three years of probation run their course.
