Fatal UConn fight started with comments

VERNON, Conn., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The altercation that killed University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard started with a comment a teammate made about a woman, police say.

A 21-page warrant used to arrest John Lomax III, 21, in connection with Howard's Oct. 18 death, unsealed Tuesday, indicated that bad blood began at a dance in UConn's Student Union when one of Howard's fellow Huskies football players made a comment about a woman that a group of Bloomfield, Conn., men, including Lomax, objected to, The Hartford Courant reported.

Witnesses said the disagreement spilled out onto the lawn in front of the student union after a fire alarm was pulled, and that in the chaos, Howard squared off with Lomax. The witnesses reportedly said Howard took a punch at Lomax, who responded by taking a swipe at Howard's stomach.

The Courant said witnesses described Howard yelling, "They got me. They stabbed me," before collapsing on the sidewalk from a knife wound.

The affidavits indicated that a female UConn student who told police she has known Lomax since he was a child asserted she was sure he was the person that made a stabbing motion at Howard, the Courant reported.