By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
A 14-year-old Burlington boy has been arrested on a charge of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a Chittenden County teen in a car outside a home in Bristol on Monday night, officials said Tuesday morning.
Hussein Mohamed is being charged in adult court by the office of Addison County State’s Attorney Eva Vekos with second-degree murder, officials said.
He is charged with killing Madden Gouveia, 14, of Shelburne, officials said.
This isn’t the first tragedy in Gouveia’s family, according to a GoFundMe page established by his sister, Nichole Worthen of Burlington. Their older brother died in an accident in 2020, she said.
The adult felony charge stems from a joint investigation by Vermont State and Bristol Police following the 7:20 p.m. incident on North Street near Plank Road.
Mohamed was in possession of a handgun while sitting in the rear passenger-side seat of a parked vehicle when the handgun discharged, police said. The bullet struck Gouveia as he sat in the front passenger seat, police said.
Mohamed is expected to appear for arraignment at 1 p.m. today at Vermont Superior Court in Middlebury.
Gouveia was treated at the scene and rushed by Bristol Rescue to the UVM Medical Center in Burlington, officials said.
A spokesman said shortly before 10 p.m. that best medical efforts were unable to save him.
Bristol Police Chief Bruce Nason said he asked Vermont State Police to take the lead in the investigation due to their vast resources, including a crime scene search team and trained homicide investigators. Bristol officers are assisting.
An autopsy was planned for Tuesday by the office of Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner in Burlington.
A Facebook page for a youth named Hussein Mohamed of Burlington was taken down shortly after 11 AM this morning.
The Bristol homicide is unrelated to any of the 7 other reported homicides in Vermont this month. The 8 appear are all unrelated and 6 of the cases remain unsolved, police said.
There are persons of interest in at least 3 of the 6 unsolved deaths, according to investigators.