By Jared Barchus
On October 17th, the UConn Huskies football team triumphed over division rival Louisville in a 38-25 Homecoming victory. Campus was soon filled with parties celebrating Homecoming weekend and the football team’s win. However, joy soon turned to sorrow when tragedy struck the Storrs, Connecticut campus.
Jasper Howard (6)
At approximately 12:30am on Sunday, October 18th, UConn junior defensive back Jasper Howard was stabbed outside of a party at the campus student center. Just hours after having an impact performance against the Louisville Cardinals, Howard was stabbed on the street after a fire alarm was pulled and more than 300 students came spilling out of the building. A fight broke out and Howard was stabbed in the abdomen during an altercation. University police broke up the melee, but it was too late for the football star.
Howard, 20, was a native of Miami, Florida and aspired to play in the NFL. Despite his 5’10”, 180-pound stature, he made a huge impact on the Huskies football team as a cornerback and a punt return specialist. His coaches and teammates described Howard as “a brother, a mentor, and somebody that you loved to be around.” Howard, affectionately called “Jazz” by his friends and teammates, was a father-to-be and the first member of his family to attend college.
Jasper Howard was considered a very motivated student-athlete. He grew up in Dade County in Miami, Florida and was determined to make it out of the rough neighborhood where he grew up. Jasper’s mother, Joangila, supported him and his two younger sisters by herself. He was an all-state player in football and team captain at Miami Edison High School. Howard’s high school teammate and current Clemson University football star Chris Chancellor will wear Jasper’s jersey number 6 to commemorate his life. Howard’s UConn teammates will also wear his number as a decal on their helmet for the remainder of the season. The team will also carry Jasper’s jersey and helmet to each game with them to keep their slain teammate’s memory close.
Three men have been charged in association with the fight outside of the student center that led to Howard’s death. John William Lomax III, 21, was arrested and charged with murder on Tuesday, October 20th. His bail was set at $2 million. Lomax and two of his friends, who are all residents of Bloomfield, all face criminal charges and are set to appear in court in early November. None of the men are students at UConn. Police are still uncertain of the reason why the fight broke out and whether Howard’s stabbing was intentional.
High School friends of Jasper Howard speak during his funeral Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 in Miami. Howard was fatally stabbed outside a dance on Connecticut's campus. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
Jasper Howard’s funeral was held in Miami on Monday, October 26th where 1,700 people, including members of Howard’s biological family and his UConn family, came together to celebrate his life.
The challenge for head coach Randy Edsall and the rest of the UConn football team will be to manage the rest of their season successfully. Since Jasper’s death, UConn lost a close game against West Virginia 28-24 and are set to play Rutgers University on Halloween. The Huskies football team is just trying to get back to normal. “We all have to move on with our everyday lives and understand what we have to get done,” Coach Edsall said. “I am not going to interfere with anybody’s individual way of handling this situation with Jazz, but everyone knows it is time to move forward and go on.”
