A prosecutor told a judge Thursday that a New York man accused of shooting and killing a St. Johnsbury man had “hunted him over six hours” before eventually finding him in a vehicle in a hospital parking lot.
Caledonia County State’s Attorney Jessica Zaleski said in court Thursday — during a hybrid video and in-person court hearing — that Jerry Ramirez, 33, of Brooklyn represented a public safety threat and asked that he be held without bail while awaiting trial.
Ramirez, through his attorney, had moments earlier pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Vincent Keithan, 44, on the morning of March 1 in the parking lot outside Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury.
Keithan was shot and killed “by Mr. Ramirez after Mr. Ramirez had hunted him over six hours in the early morning,” Zaleski said in court.
The prosecutor said there were many witnesses in the case, including people who were in either the vehicle Keithan had been in at the hospital parking lot or the Jeep Wrangler that Ramirez arrived in.
Surveillance footage from the hospital showed the Jeep entering the parking lot moments before the shooting and leaving after it, Zaleski said.
Judge Justin Jiron agreed to the prosecutor’s request to keep Ramirez in custody without bail while the case is pending.
Dan Maguire, a court-appointed attorney for Ramirez, did not challenge that request, though he said he reserved the ability to do so in the future.
“We’re still in the process of gathering information,” Maguire told the judge.
Ramirez did not speak during the hearing and appeared by video from Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury.
An affidavit from Detective Sgt. Francis LaBombard of the Vermont State Police filed in court in support of the murder charge recounts interviews with several witnesses during the homicide probe.
There is no statement from Ramirez and no specific motive is stated, though the detective’s affidavit says he appeared to become upset in the hours before the shooting because of drugs and a relationship.
Here’s what LaBombard’s affidavit says:
Eli Farrington told investigators that, during the evening and overnight hours of Feb. 28 and March 1, he was at Allison Roslund’s residence on Jills Hill Road in Lyndonville, along with Keithan, Roslund, Ramirez, who people had also called “Mike,” and Ashley Lee, who another person later told police Ramirez had been dating.
At one point, Farrington said, Keithan, Roslund and Lee left the home and Ramirez started “freaking out” that Lee had gone.
Also, Farrington said he recalled a phone call on the day of the shooting in which Keithan said “they had the pack.” “Farrington took this to mean ‘the package’ or ‘the drugs,’ and believed Lee took ‘Mike’s’ supply,” the affidavit stated.
Cassandra Rich told police that, in the early morning hours of March 1, she and her boyfriend, Ryan Hill, had gone to Roslund’s home to buy drugs and while there learned there had been an “ongoing issue” with Ramirez, Lee, Roslund and Keithan, LoBombard wrote.
Rich said she had traveled at some point to Heather Megaro’s mobile home on Lily Road in Lyndonville, where she saw Ramirez had two firearms — a small handgun and a rifle — and took them with him as he got into his Jeep Wrangler.
Rich said that Ramirez, now with the two firearms, continued his search for Lee, and when he went to Keithan’s residence, Ramirez broke the windows of Keithan’s truck with a gun.
Hill told investigators that, while he was in the Jeep with Ramirez and others, they went to the hospital parking lot and saw Roslund’s car. Hill said he stood outside the Jeep and watched as Ramirez got into the back seat of Roslund’s car — opposite Keithan — and Lee got out and went to the Jeep.
Keithan got out of the vehicle and began to back away, and Hill said he then heard Keithan say to Ramirez, “Mike, are you going to shoot?” and Ramirez responded “yes,” the affidavit stated.
According to the affidavit, Hill said he then heard a bang, Keithan fell, and Ramirez got back into the Jeep, telling others in that vehicle, “Go, go, go, we got to get the fuck out of here.”
Lee, who had described Roslund and Keithan as “manic and delusional” in the hours before the shooting, recalled waking up that morning in Roslund’s vehicle parked in the hospital parking lot, and Ramirez then arrived in his Jeep, the affidavit stated.
Lee said she was crying and hugging Ramirez, adding that she never heard a gunshot; she got into the Jeep and they drove away, according to the affidavit.
Roslund told police that, while she was parked in the hospital lot, Ramirez came up to her vehicle after he arrived in the Jeep, came over to her Volvo, fought for the keys and struck her in the head, court filings stated. She said Keithan then got out of Rosund’s vehicle and Ramirez chased him before she heard a gunshot.
Ramirez was arrested hours after the shooting following a high-speed pursuit in New York. He was initially charged with aggravated assault — for allegedly striking Roslund. He was held on bail and extradited to Vermont this week on the murder charge. He also pleaded not guilty Thursday to the aggravated assault charge.
