Stamford Man Is Charged in South End Murder

Stamford Police have arrested a suspect in last week's murder of a man in the city's South End following a dispute over an apparent drug debt.

In a statement, police said investigators were able to identify the suspect from video surveillance of the neighborhood and statements from witnesses to the June 5 point-blank shooting of William 'Buttons' James. The 46-year-old James suffered a single gunshot wound to the head, and was pronounced dead shortly after the 8:36 p.m. shooting, police said.

According to police, detectives obtained an arrest warrant on Thursday charging 20-year-old Andre Quinn Russell, also known as 'Little G,' with first-degree murder in connection with Stamford's first murder of 2014.

After obtaining the warrant, members of the department's Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted a surveillance of Russell's residence at 83-3 Ludlow St. At approximately 3:15 p.m., Russell emerged from the residence and was apprehended without incident, police said.

Russell is reportedly being held on a court-ordered $1 million bond and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in state Superior Court in Stamford, according to The Advocate of Stamford.

According to police, following the shooting, witnesses told investigators that a man, later identified as Russell, walked up behind James standing near the corner of Pacific and Ludlow streets and fired a single round, striking him in the head. The suspect then ran east on Ludlow Street. The officers reviewed numerous videotapes from the area, interviewed multiple witnesses, and executed two search warrants in an effort to identify the suspected killer.

In a statement, police said, "We believe that there was an argument over a drug debt and that Russell believed that James was selling narcotics on Russell’s side of the street. This argument then led to the shooting."

According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website, Russell was arrested earlier this week on a probation violation charge. At the time of his arrest Thursday, Russell had posted $25,000 bond following the arrest on June 10. The violation of probation charge stems from a 2012 conviction for carrying a pistol without a permit, according to the Judicial Branch.