A 43-year-old Middletown man has been charged with murder, second-degree stalking and unlawful discharge of a firearm after police alleged he secretly tracked a woman’s vehicle before she was found shot to death in a Middletown apartment on September 29. Barrington Oneil Brown Jr. is being held on $3 million bond and is due back in Middletown Superior Court on October 13, according to WTNH.
Two different uses of GPS
The alleged hidden tracker in this case is distinct from court-related GPS monitoring. A CT Insider analysis reported that Connecticut had used GPS monitoring for family-violence offenders for more than a decade without formally studying whether it prevents domestic abuse. The analysis also identified 17 people killed in Connecticut domestic-violence incidents over six years despite prior stay-away orders and arrests for violating them. Those findings provide statewide context; they do not establish that monitoring applied to this case or would have prevented the killing.
Police say investigators found a black magnetic GPS device beneath the woman’s vehicle. They also used location data from Brown’s and the woman’s phones as part of an investigation into an alleged pursuit lasting more than 12 hours, NBC Connecticut reported. The affidavit account reported by WTNH places the pair’s phones in the area of a Middletown apartment before they were later tracked elsewhere. The victim’s sister found her on the apartment floor shortly before 3:30 p.m., according to the affidavit.
Investigators reported recovering a shell casing and projectile at the scene. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had not determined the cause and manner of death, which remained pending further study and investigation, according to WTNH. Police have not publicly identified the victim, citing domestic-violence laws.
A separate tracking allegation in Eastford
The Middletown investigation is not the only recent Connecticut case involving alleged tracking of a former dating partner, though the incidents are separate and do not establish a trend. In Eastford, a man told police in July 2024 that he found a GPS tracker on his vehicle; state police also said a tracker was found in a stuffed teddy bear. His former dating partner was charged with electronic stalking and other offenses, Patch reported. That case involved different allegations and charges.
Arrest followed a separate exchange of gunfire
After Middletown police alerted area law enforcement that Brown was a suspect, West Hartford officers pursued his vehicle in Hartford late that night. The pursuit ended in an exchange of gunfire; Brown and a juvenile passenger were injured, and no officers were struck, WTNH reported. Police said a handgun found near Brown was consistent with the weapon used in the Middletown killing. The Connecticut Office of the Inspector General is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Brown had not posted bond in the latest court filings cited in the reports. He did not enter a plea and is scheduled to return to court on October 13. The charges are allegations; the investigation into the woman’s death remains ongoing.
