A Brooklyn, New York, man has been arrested and charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a St. Johnsbury man earlier this month in a hospital parking lot.
Jerry Ramirez is expected to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Caledonia County Superior Court in St. Johnsbury on a second-degree murder charge in the death of 44-year-old Vincent Keithan, Vermont State Police said in a news release issued late Wednesday afternoon.
Keithan died of a single gunshot wound to the neck, and his death has been ruled a homicide, according to police.
The shooting took place on the morning of March 1 in a parking lot outside the Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury. No patients or hospital staff members were involved in the shooting, according to authorities.
Police have said they believe the shooting is drug-related. Wednesday’s press release does not provide specific details about the murder investigation and police said they would have no further comment Wednesday.
A police affidavit providing more information in support of the murder charge is expected to be released following Ramirez’s arraignment Thursday.
However, a separate affidavit already made public in support of an aggravated assault charge against Ramirez already gives some detail into the investigation of the fatal shooting.
That affidavit states that Ramirez allegedly hit Allison Roslund in the head while she was in a car with Keithan just before the shooting.
Keithan fled the car, with Ramirez running after him, police said in the affidavit. Roslund told investigators after she lost sight of the two men she heard a gunshot and “she knew Keithan was gone,” police wrote.
Ramirez and another man drove away and were eventually arrested in Milan, New York, following a high-speed pursuit, according to police.
The charge of second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
