'You Shook Hands With The Devil': Judge Blasts Connecticut Man Who Shot Victim 3 Times Outside Grocery Store
Feb. 18 2023, Published 3:03 p.m. ET
A Connecticut man who pumped three bullets into his victim was ordered to serve over half a century in prison for the crime.
Superior Court Judge Alex Hernandez recently sentenced Jarod “Hot Rod” Hamilton, 24, to 55 years for the shooting death of 22-year-old Khali Davis, the Connecticut Post reported.
On Dec. 23, 2017, Davis was shot multiple times in the back while standing with some friends in front of a small grocery store in Bridgeport.
While handing down the sentence, Judge Hernandez called the broad-daylight slaying a “calculated, cold-blooded murder."
“Having a gun doesn’t make you a man," Hernandez told the emotionless convicted killer. "When you picked up that gun you shook hands with the devil.”
In December 2022, a jury found Hamilton guilty of murder and carrying a pistol without a permit in connection with the fatal shooting of Davis.
Video of the slaying shown during trial shows Hamilton walking up behind Davis and shooting him three times in the back.
“We saw in stark reality on the video an individual hunt and then put three bullets into the victim," Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen Zingaro said during the sentencing hearing. "Mr. Davis was hunted and shot down like a dog, it was shocking. He didn’t have a weapon, he wasn’t fighting anyone. He was just standing there.”
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The victim's mother, Juanita Davis, broke down in tears as she faced Hamilton for the first time in the courtroom.
“You don’t realize what you have done, Jarod," she told the defendant. "When you took my son from me you played God and you’re not God. You had every opportunity to choose not to do what you did. Whatever you get you deserve.”
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