Derek Brouwer ©️ Seven Days
Addison County State's Attorney Eva Vekos
The state is no longer prosecuting a 14-year-old boy who is accused of fatally shooting another boy in Bristol last year as an adult.
The second-degree murder case has been removed from criminal court after Addison County State's Attorney Eva Vekos said she did not oppose the defendant's request to transfer the case to the family division, where juvenile cases are handled in confidential proceedings.
A group of teens were passing around a loaded 9mm pistol in a car last October when police said a 14-year-old boy shot and killed Madden Gouveia, also 14. Following the shooting, the surviving boys hid the gun and initially told police they'd been victims of a drive-by shooting. They later said the shooting had been an accident, according to police.
Vekos drew criticism for her initial decision to bring an adult murder charge against the youth who is accused of shooting Gouveia. The adult prosecution exposed the youth, who is Black, to public proceedings. Some media outlets, including
Seven Days, published the defendant's name and image.
Seven Days has since enacted a policy against naming juvenile criminal defendants in most circumstances. The newspaper has removed the youth's name from earlier online stories.
Juvenile justice proceedings in Vermont are closed to the public. Records from the criminal case also appear to have been sealed. In response to an emailed request this week for records, an Addison County court clerk replied, "The Court has no record of this case."
In earlier filings
and criminal hearings, chief juvenile defender Marshall Pahl, Vekos and Judge David Fenster had indicated that they intended to transfer the case to juvenile court.
Pahl declined comment this week; Vekos did not respond to a request for an update about the case.
Gouveia's mother, Kelly, has previously said she wanted the case to be tried in adult court.