WEST HAVEN — The man fatally shot by police officers at a car wash last week was wanted in connection with a Hamden robbery during which he and others were accused of hitting, pistol-whipping and shooting the victim while stealing drugs and money, documents show.

The indictment was made public Friday in U.S. District Court in Hartford, the day after Jebrell Conley, 36, of New Haven, was killed by police after he fired a single shot at them before his gun jammed, according to a preliminary report from the state inspector general's office.

The report contains video recordings of the incident taken by police officers' body cameras and by a civilian witness using a cellphone.

The officers, members of the New Haven Police Department Violent Crime Task Force, confronted Conley at the Splash Car Wash on Boston Post Road in West Haven, just over the line from New Haven, to arrest him on federal charges that they had learned of that day, the inspector general's report said.

The charges were interference with commerce by robbery and carrying, using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, court records show. Each charge also cited the federal "aiding and abetting" statute, making it unclear whether Conley was suspected of committing violent acts or of aiding or encouraging others to do so.

The indictment contains few details of the robbery it alleges. But it does say the incident occurred outside a Hamden home on July 4, 2023.

The indictment does not say how many people were involved in the robbery, but refers to "other individuals." The indictment, however, names only Conley as a defendant.

The indictment was Conley's second brush with federal law enforcement, and he had an extensive overall criminal record, documents show.

Crack conviction

In 2016, Conley received a five-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to possessing more than 28 grams of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute it, online federal court records show. The drugs actually seized from him by investigators in that case were 33 gram of crack cocaine, 9 grams of marijuana and 27 grams of ecstasy, according to a sentencing memorandum by the federal public defender who represented him, James P. Maguire.

Conley, who was known as "City," according to prosecution documents related to both his federal cases, was in the highest criminal history category under federal guidelines at the time of the crack sentencing, according to prosecutor H. Gordon Hall's sentencing memo.

The defense lawyer wrote that Conley's record during a certain period of his life "reflects a string of drug sale convictions," but "does not show a trend toward violent offending."

The prosecutor wrote, however, that Conley "was charged with interfering with police and assault as a juvenile."

Conley was born in 1988 and grew up in New Haven's Hill neighborhood, the defense lawyer wrote. Conley's father was incarcerated for most of his childhood and Conley remembered seeing him only three times, Maguire continued.

That left Conley's mother with the responsibility of raising her nine children, of whom Conley was second youngest, the defense lawyer continued, adding that she had "chronic health troubles that required frequent hospitalization."

Still, Conley's mother "kept him inside as much as possible, putting a closed door between Jebrell and a neighborhood saturated by drugs and violence," according to Maguire.

Brother was mentor

Conley's older brother, Tyrell Harris "was more like a father figure," the defense lawyer wrote, quoting a federal probation officer's report.

"Tyrell helped him with his homework, gave him advice, attended his basketball games and tried to keep him focused on school," the documents said.

With his brother's help, Conley compiled a successful record in elementary and middle school, according to the defense lawyer.

"In his fifth grade year alone, Mr. Conley received certificates for 'academic and social achievement,' for being the 'most improved student,' and for never missing a day of school," Maguire wrote.

"Through middle school, Mr. Conley remained an active and engaged student, participating not only in sports — football, basketball, and baseball — but also in the school band, in which he played the drums, a skill he first developed playing in church services as a child," the defense lawyer continued.

But Conley's life took a drastic turn on Dec. 27, 2003, when he was 15 and Tyrell Harris was fatally shot at a Milford nightclub, Maguire continued.

The probation officer quoted Conley as saying, "My world was flipped upside down" and "When Tyrell died, my father died," according to the defense lawyer.

"Mr. Conley recalled that at the time of his brother's death, his mother was out of work and struggling to meet the family's financial obligations," according to Maguire, citing the probation officer's report.

"He believed that it was his responsibility to take his brother's place, help his mother and provide for the family," the defense lawyer continued, still quoting the probation officer. "School was no longer a priority. Mr. Conley began to sell drugs to meet his goals. He was arrested as a youthful offender when he was approximately 16 years old. From that time on, he has been in and out of jail."

Dropped out of high school

Conley began using marijuana and failed to finish high school, Maguire wrote.

Still, at age 17, Conley began what the defense lawyer said, "has become a time-tested and solid relationship" with a woman who had two children with him by 2016.

The prosecutor wrote, however, that the investigators who found the drugs that led to Conley's federal conviction also recovered "Grape Street Crips regalia" in the residence Conley shared with the woman and their child.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommended that Conley receive a prison sentence between 77 and 96 months, roughly 6 1/2 to 8 years, according to the prosecutor.

But Judge Alvin W. Thompson, who sits in U.S. District Court in Hartford, sentenced Conley to five years behind bars, the mandatory minimum for the crime, which his lawyer wrote, "marks a significant increase over any sentence that Mr. Conley has previously served."

The judge ordered that the prison term run consecutive to the state prison sentence Conley was serving at the time.

Conley faced the possibility of up to 27 months in state prison for violating the terms of his special parole in a previous state case, according to his lawyer, who explained that the violation consisted of the same drug possession that led to the federal conviction.