Branford Police have issued an arrest warrant and have an arrest pending for a Middletown woman who they say is responsible for the death of a man found in the Branford Motel on Thursday, July 3. 

Lashanda Gregory, 27, of Middletown, is being charged with murder, larceny in the third degree, and larceny in the sixth degree. Branford detectives were summoned to Branford Motel, 470 East main Street, on July 3 by motel employees after a man who was scheduled to checkout did not.  Upon arrival detectives found the guest deceased in his room. Police called the death "suspicious." The victim has been identified as Byron C. McDade, 41, of Deep River. 

"During the autopsy we learned that Mr. McDade's death was caused by a traumatic injury to his neck and we began to handle the investigation as a homicide," said Detective Lieutenant Arthurt Kohloff, supervisor of the investigation.

According to Kohloff, Branford detectives and detectives from the Connecticut State Police Major Crime Squad located "vital evidence" in the motel room during the crime scene search which lead investigators to a local business where McDade and a female companion were captured together on video hours before his death.

"Because of that video evience and relentless work by our detectives, we were able to track down the companion with the assistance of the Old Saybrook and Middletown Police Departments," Kohloff said. "Once we located her our detectives obtained a confession directly linking her to Mr. McDade's death."

Gregory is currently incarcerated and is being held on a $250,000 bond for unrelated charges since her interview with police.