SuspectinAvon man's killing four years ago wants hearing on evidence

Aug. 11—McMahon was arrested four days after police interviewed a witness who implicated him in the killing. That was several months after the family of the homicide victim, Eros Diaz, 24, of Waterville Road in Avon, increased the reward they were offering for information leading to an arrest and conviction to $500,000.

Connecticut law gives murder defendants the right to a hearing at which witnesses must testify and be cross-examined by the defense lawyer so that a judge can decide whether there is "probable cause" to believe that the defendant committed the crime.

In addition to murder, McMahon is charged with first-degree assault in the shooting of a second victim and criminal possession of a handgun. He is being held on $3 million bond.

Police received reports of a shooting on Winship Street after 9:30 p.m. on June 22, 2019.

Diaz was found in a car and pronounced dead at the scene. The second victim, a man in his early 30s, was taken by ambulance to Hartford Hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the detectives.

The victims' car had been involved in an accident on Gilman Street moments before the shooting and had fled — but had stopped on Winship Street, the detectives reported, adding that the driver of the other car stayed at the scene.

—

Granby residents outraged over proposed housing development

—

Connecticut gets "sexy" new rail cars

A NASA baseball cap was found close to Diaz's car along with multiple spent .380-caliber shell casings, according to the detectives.

They reported that surveillance video showed that the shooter walked north on Winship Street from the intersection of Winship and Gilman streets. The detectives quoted the driver of the other vehicle in the accident as saying that the shooter had been wearing a hat when he walked north but not when he ran south after the gunfire.

Another witness quoted McMahon as saying on the night of the shooting that he was involved in an altercation with "Tooth" and "X" and "had to do it" because "X" had shot his brother, the detectives reported. They said the witness quoted McMahon as describing the gun he used as his "baby," which she said was what he called his .380-caliber pistol.

She quoted McMahon as saying he had left something at the scene that could connect him to the shooting — and that he wore a black NASA hat, the detectives reported.

But when the cap was submitted to the state Forensic Science Laboratory, it concluded that the DNA mixture on it was too complicated to compare to McMahon's DNA, according to the detectives, who said another lab concluded that he was eliminated as a contributor.

The witness who came forward in June said he had known McMahon for about 14 years and would supply him with cocaine on a weekly basis, the detectives reported. They quoted him as saying that on the night of the killing he saw McMahon running down the street shooting.