Prosecutors: Fight preceded Howard's stabbing

Two Bloomfield men arrested in connection with the murder of UConn football player Jasper Howard went to the campus the night of Oct. 17 to party, and got into a fight with the athlete.

John W. Lomax III and Hakim Muhammad were arraigned this afternoon in Rockville Superior Court.

Lomax, 21, is charged with murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree assault. The judge kept his bond at $2 million.

Muhammad, 20, is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree assault. His bond was reduced to $450,000.

The arrest warrants are sealed. During their brief court appearance it was revealed that Lomax and Muhammad work together at a computer company in Windsor, and that they went to the UConn campus in Storrs the evening of Oct. 17 to party.

Prosecutors said that at a university-sanctioned dance on campus the two got into a minor altercation with Howard and then left the dance and went to Lomax's car. The allegation is that they armed themselves with knives and went back to find Howard.

Witnesses told police that both had knives.

Neither man spoke during the court appearance except for one-word answers to the judge.

Both cases were continued and transferred to the upper level of Superior Court. Lomax is next scheduled to appear Nov. 13. Muhammad's next appearance is scheduled for Nov. 20.

Lomax was represented by attorney Deron Freeman. Attorney Gerald Klein is representing Muhammad.

About 50 relatives and friends of the accused were in court. Many were crying, and one man pulled away from a woman who was trying to comfort him and slammed his fist into the wall of an elevator.

Police said Jamal Todd, 21, of Hartford pulled the fire alarm that preceded the fight. He was charged with falsely reporting an incident and reckless endangerment and was released on a $5,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 10.