Spino
ANSONIA — A third suspect is due in court in March for a decade-old murder in Ansonia.
Andrew Spino, 34, is accused of being the getaway driver in a 2011 shooting in a convenience store parking lot that left Isaia Hernandez, 25, dead.
Spino was extradited to Connecticut from Honolulu in 2022, where he had been incarcerated since 2020 on separate charges.
On March 16, 2011, Isaia Hernandez was shot dead in the parking lot of Ansonia Xpressmart, 180 Wakelee Ave.
According to Spino’s arrest warrant, written by Ansonia Det. Stephen Adcox, Hernandez had allegedly been there to sell cocaine to Elijah Stanford, then 19, and Luis Marquez, then 18.
But Marquez and Stanford intended to rob Hernandez, according to the warrant.
Spino alleged in an interview with police that Marquez raised the idea of robbing Hernandez. Spino dropped Marquez and Stanford off at the convenience store. He said he drove away, heard shots fired, and saw Marquez and Hernandez leave Hernandez’s car. Spino continued driving away.
“As he turned he heard ‘pops’ like fireworks but believed they were gunshots,” the warrant states.
Spino said that he later picked Stanford and Marquez up near Lester Street, and that he was unaware that Hernandez had been killed in the robbery.
An autopsy completed on May 12, 2011, found that Hernandez had died from three gunshot wounds, all entering through his back.
Several anonymous sources came to APD in the days following the shooting and mentioned Stanford’s name in connection to Hernandez.
During the course of the investigation, Spino alleges that Marquez briefly fled to New York, while the report notes that Stanford was imprisoned at Manson Youth Institution for an unrelated case. Spino spoke with detectives several times during this period.
Both Marquez and Stanford were arrested in 2021 and charged with felony murder, first-degree robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Spino, after being extradited from Hawaii, now faces the same charges.
All three men were placed in custody on $500,000 bond. Marquez and Stanford each posted bond; Spino has not. None of the three men have entered a plea yet.
Marquez’s next court date is Feb. 9. Stanford’s is Feb. 14. Spino was originally to appear before court on Jan. 25, but his appearance was continued to March 5.
