CT man sentenced to 3 years for shooting at woman after sending ‘several pages’ of harassing texts
A Hartford man was sentenced to three years in prison after he reportedly pulled a rented Jeep up to a mini van and fired shots at a man and woman inside after giving them the middle finger.
Duwade Gilzene, 34, appeared in Hartford Superior Court on Thursday afternoon and was sentenced by Judge David P. Gold to 12 years in prison, suspended after three years.
On Nov. 14, 2022, the Hartford Police Department responded to a ShotSpotter alert and were directed by a witness to the 200 block of Westbourne Parkway, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Investigators learned that Carl Patterson, 29, had been dropped off at Saint Francis Hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg. The woman who dropped him off, identified only as Jane Doe, was driving a mini van with bullet holes in its side and a windshield damaged by gunfire, the warrant affidavit said.
The woman told police that a Jeep Cherokee pulled up to her van and a man wearing a face mask and rings that she recognized gave her the middle finger and then opened fire, according to the warrant affidavit.
The woman told police in a sworn statement that Gilzene “had been harassing her and sending unsolicited text messages to her phone” and showed police “several pages” of text messages that were linked to a number registered to Gilzene.
After being shown a booking photo of Gilzene, the victim told police “this is him,” the warrant affidavit said.
Gilzene’s sentence will be followed by four years of probation, and a protective order will be in place between Gilzene and an unidentified victim for 25 years. A victim’s advocate told the court Thursday that the victim had asked for a lifetime protective order.
Prosecutors asked for the protective order, stating that it was Glisten’s choice to “chase her down in her car and shoot at her and her passenger.”
Gilzene’s defense attorney Aaron Romano countered that Hartford is a “small city” and worried if his client may accidentally violate the order, perhaps at a grocery store, without knowing.
The no-contact order, barring Gilzene from communicating from the victim in any way, was set to be in effect until May, 2049.
The victim, identified in court proceedings only by her initials, was not in court for the sentencing, according to state prosecutors.
At least five family and friends of Gilzene attended the sentencing. Two people were escorted out of the courtroom by marshals after taking out their cell phones to reportedly capture videos and photos of Gilzene walking into the courtroom wearing an orange Department of Correction jumpsuit with shackles on his wrists and ankles.
Investigators linked the Jeep he was driving to a rental car company and discovered that Gilzene rented, and was driving, at the time of the shooting.
In the warrant affidavit, police said the shooting appeared to be targeted and alleged that Gilzene was attempting to shoot the woman “but instead, struck Patterson.”
Gilzene pleaded guilty to charges of attempted first-degree assault and criminal possession of a firearm, records show. His sentence was pre-agreed upon by prosecutors and Gilzene’s defense attorney, both parties said Thursday. He was also sentenced to two years in prison for a charge of criminal possession of a firearm, which he will serve at the same time as his other sentence.
Gilzene denied his opportunity to address the court, stating only “no” when asked if he had anything to say.
He is being held at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, according to court records.
