ANSONIA – Three men accused of murdering 20-year-old Johnny Class on Hubbell Avenue in 2022 have rejected plea offers in recent months, according to court records.

The state’s judicial website lists the case against Vince Bravo, 19, Monteral Crews, 20, and Errol Salkey, 21, as “on the trial list, to be scheduled.”

Bravo, Crews, and Salkey have each pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempt to commit robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. All three men rejected plea bargains which would have required them to serve 35 years in prison.

Crews rejected the plea bargain Sept. 26, according to court records, while Bravo rejected the bargain Oct. 27 and Salkey rejected it Dec. 19.

The Valley Indy placed calls to lawyers representing Bravo and Crews but did not hear back. Salkey is represented by a public defender.

The three men were arrested over the course of a year-long investigation into an alleged robbery-gone-wrong on April 5, 2022. 

According to arrest warrants, Crews arranged to buy an ounce of marijuana from one of Class’s friends.

The friend drove to a spot about a block from Crews’ house, with Class in the passenger seat and another friend in the back. Crews allegedly came out to meet them and talked to the driver through Class’s window.

Then, a warrant states, two other people walked around to the driver’s side. The third passenger tapped the driver’s arm to warn them they might get robbed.

Crews then allegedly pulled out a gun while the other assailants tried to open the locked driver’s door.

Then Crews fired a single shot into the vehicle, striking Class in the side of the head.

The driver said one more shot was fired at the car as he drove away. The driver called 911 and Class was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police identified the suspects based on cell phone records, witness testimony, and surveillance video. School resource officer Michael Barry reviewed footage from neighborhood cameras and recognized Crews and Bravo as students at the high school’s alternative education program.

The driver of the car also picked out Crews from a photo lineup.

A search of Crews’ phone revealed that he had called an Uber from the crime scene just minutes after the shooting. Location data placed the three teens together at Bravo’s residence soon after.

At the time of the shooting, the suspects ranged in age from 16 to 17. Police have charged each of them as adults.

The arrests of the three suspects came months apart. Crews was captured by U.S. Marshals a month after the shooting in North Carolina. Salkey was arrested in Ansonia a year after the murder. Bravo was arrested in 2023 in Stratford, according to the CT Post. All three are being tried as adults for felony murder and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Class, who lived in Stratford, was father to an eight-month-old daughter at the time of the shooting. In a fundraising page for his funeral, Class’ mother described what his death took from her.

“You became a great man and a big brother, great son, amazing father that did everything for his daughter, a great grandson, and nephew. Full of love, joy and laughter always joking around and making those around you laugh,” she wrote of him. “You are loved and always will be.”