Lee-Seales appears headed to trial in New London murder
Shaquan Lee-Seales, accused of shooting into a crowd of people on Grand Street in New London and killing Gilberto Olivencia in December 2015, received a plea offer Tuesday in Superior Court that his attorney said Lee-Seales is likely to reject.
The 23-year-old New London resident has been held in lieu of bond since June 2016, when New London Police charged him with murder, first-degree reckless endangerment, illegal discharge of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit and first-degree robbery.
On Tuesday, Senior Assistant Paul J. Narducci extended a plea offer to Lee-Seales, giving him the opportunity to avoid the risk of being sentenced to more than 60 years in prison if convicted by a jury. The plea offer was not disclosed on the record in court, since the victim's family had not been notified.
In any case, Lee-Seales' attorney, Sebastian O. DeSantis, said his client is likely to turn down the offer when Lee-Seales returns to court on Sept. 7.
"I've relayed the offer that was made by the state," DeSantis told Judge Hillary B. Strackbein as Lee-Seales stood at his side. "I do expect him to reject it."
The case likely would be scheduled for trial later this year, at which Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed would preside and a jury of 12 would hear the evidence.
According to New London police, Lee-Seales exited a white SUV at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Grand Street on Dec. 10, 2015, and fired multiple shots toward Olivencia and several others following an earlier encounter on State Pier Road, where Lee-Seales allegedly had assaulted and robbed a 17-year-old drug dealer who "disrespected" him.
Upon their arrival at the scene, police had found the 29-year-old Olivencia lying on the front porch of 8 Grand St., losing a large amount of blood and unable to speak about who shot him. He was pronounced dead at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital at 12:43 a.m. on Dec. 11, 2015.
Police said they recovered a cigarette pack containing Lee-Seales' thumbprint at the scene along with other forensic evidence and interviewed witnesses who identified Lee-Seales as the shooter. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
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