ST. JOHNSBURY — A 15-year-old boy from Springfield, Massachusetts, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and killing a 38-year-old woman in her vehicle following a dispute in St. Johnsbury.
The teenager took part in his arraignment, held Monday afternoon in Caledonia County Superior criminal court in St. Johnsbury, by video from a youth detention facility in Massachusetts where he has been held since his arrest last week on the Vermont charge.
The shooting took place on the evening of Jan. 23 during an encounter that the defendant and another teen had with Christina Chatlos and a passenger in her vehicle, according to charging documents.
The defendant had allegedly been in Vermont to deal drugs and had an “altercation” with Chatlos over a cellphone that belonged to him, charging documents stated. According to the court filings, he was standing outside her car and allegedly shot her while she was in the driver’s seat.
VTDigger generally does not identify juvenile defendants and is not doing so in this case at this time.
The teen was taken into custody in St. Johnsbury shortly after the shooting on an unrelated Massachusetts warrant for a juvenile matter and was extradited to that state as the investigation into Chatlos’ killing continued, according to Vermont State Police.
He was arrested in Massachusetts last week on the warrant charging him with murder in Vermont. Chatlos, a mother of two children, lived in Williamstown.
Caledonia County Deputy State’s Attorney Thomas Paul, the prosecutor, and Kelly Green, a public defender representing the defendant, reached an agreement on bail conditions for the teen while the case against him remains pending.
According to a court filing by the parties, the teen will be in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services and will remain at a youth detention facility in Middleton, Massachusetts.
The teen, the filing stated, “must continue to engage in treatment, education, and other programming requirements as required by DYS.”
The prosecution, the agreement stated, reserves the right to request that the court hold the defendant without bail if he were to be released from the Middleton facility or moved to a different location.
The agreement also allows the defendant to take part in Vermont court hearings for the murder case against him by video as long as he remains at the Middleton facility and in the youth services department’s custody.
Green participated in Monday’s hearing by video, seated alongside the teen in a room at the Massachusetts detention center.
By reaching an agreement on bail conditions, the prosecution and defense avoided a thorny issue that arose in a recent separate case involving another teen charged in Vermont with second-degree murder.
In that case, the 14-year-old defendant is accused of shooting and killing another 14-year-old boy, Madden Gouveia of Shelburne, when they were passengers in a vehicle in Bristol last October. According to charging documents, the defendant was allegedly waving the gun around when it went off, firing a bullet that killed Gouveia.
Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos, the prosecutor in that case, had initially sought to hold the 14-year-old in custody without bail while the case against him remained pending.
However, after learning that the teen would be sent to an adult prison where he would likely be held in solitary confinement to avoid “sight” and “sound” contact with the adults incarcerated there, Vekos dropped her request. The teen was then released on conditions to the custody of his parents.
The situation highlighted the lack of a secure setting in Vermont for youth charged as adults with violent offenses.
Judge Michael Kainen, who took part by video in the hearing Monday for the 15-year-old defendant charged in the St. Johnsbury case, said he would sign off on the bail agreement reached between the prosecution and defense.
“This makes sense,” the judge said of the teen remaining in custody at the youth detention facility in Massachusetts. “We couldn’t do a better placement in Vermont so we’re better continuing with this situation, at least for the meantime.”
If convicted of the second-degree murder charge, the teen faces up to 20 years to life in prison.
