On the evening of August 11, 2022, 33-year-old Simon Griffin was shot and killed inside his Laurel Street apartment in Hartford. Griffin had been socializing with a 27-year-old friend and a man known to them, 38-year-old Benjamin White, when an argument about a past criminal offense by White escalated. According to reports, White left the room and returned with a firearm, ordered both men to the floor, and opened fire. Griffin suffered two gunshot wounds to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. The friend was critically wounded with a gunshot to the neck but survived and provided a statement to police describing the events.

Hartford Police Major Crimes and Crime Scene Divisions identified Benjamin White as the suspect; a warrant followed and he was arrested by the Hartford Police Fugitive Task Force on August 26, 2022. White was charged with murder, first-degree assault, and criminal possession of a firearm. The surviving victim’s testimony was central to the case. Did anyone in Hartford know Simon Griffin or have information about that night on Laurel Street?