A Marshfield teenager was arraigned Tuesday afternoon and charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following a Monday night stabbing that left a Montpelier warming shelter worker seriously injured.
The suspect, Aydan Jestice, 18, stabbed the victim 10 times at the Montpelier Transit Center on Taylor Street, where the warming shelter is located, according to Montpelier police. Jestice left the scene but was arrested a short distance away, about two hours after the 8:25 p.m. incident, police said in an affidavit in support of the charges.
Jestice appeared in Washington Superior Court criminal division on Tuesday afternoon and entered not guilty pleas to the charges. Judge Kevin Griffin agreed to the state’s request to hold Jestice without bail pending an evidentiary hearing. The judge also ordered that Jestice have no contact with the victim, as well as a female juvenile who was described as a witness.
Police identified the victim as Gabriel Deangelis, 38, of Montpelier, who was working for Good Samaritan Haven, which operates the warming shelter at the transit station. Police described his injuries as “significant.”
Julie Bond, co-executive director of the Barre-based Good Samaritan Haven, said the victim was in stable condition at the University of Vermont Medical Center as of Tuesday morning. He was transported there from the Central Vermont Medical Center on Monday night, she said.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Good Samaritan Haven said the staff member had “asked the visitor to leave and an argument ensued which resulted in the staff member being stabbed multiple times.” The statement did not identify the worker by name.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Bond said in an interview. “We are all one community. We just have to build up rather than tear down, and that’s what we need to do.”
Good Samaritan’s other co-executive director is Rick Deangelis. Though Bond declined to discuss the worker’s identity, three people with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the victim is the son of Rick Deangelis, a longtime advocate for affordable housing in Central Vermont.
Police said the shelter’s staff did not know the suspect.
Bond described the warming shelter as “an evening-based option” for those who would go to an overnight overflow shelter operated at the nearby Christ Episcopal Church.
In the affidavit, Montpelier police said Jestice was in the presence of a 15-year-old runaway at the time of the stabbing and when he was arrested.
Police said the stabbing was captured on video from inside the transit center, and included photos of the suspect and a young woman leaving the transit center after the incident.
Police said a search of the young woman’s backpack turned up “the suspected knife” as well as clothing that Jestice wore at the time of the stabbing. Jestice was being lodged at the Northeast Correctional Center following his arrest.
Jack McCullough, Montpelier city council president, posted to Facebook after the incident.
“I really appreciate the people who selflessly take on the responsibility to serve the people in our community who are so greatly in need of services and support,” he said. “We all hope for Gabe’s rapid recovery from his injuries.”
