The Vermont State Police has arrested two suspects in connection with the July 5 shooting of Nathan Smires in St. Johnsbury.
Felipe Cotto Jr., 40, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, is facing charges of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Casey Jean Squires, 21, of Sheffield, Vermont, is accused of being an accessory to those same charges. They were arrested after members of the Vermont State Police including the Tactical Services Unit executed a search warrant Wednesday afternoon, July 6, at 1241 Mathewson Hill Rd. in Lyndon. Four others in the house were interviewed by detectives.
Investigators determined that the shooting occurred in the parking lot outside the Maplefield store, and that the incident occurred due to a dispute between Cotto and Smires. All the individuals involved knew one another.
Smires, 36, of Barnet was initially brought to Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury and later transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, for treatment of life-threatening injuries.
Cotto was ordered jailed without bail, while Squires was held for lack of $25,000 cash or surety. Both are due to appear for arraignment at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, July 8, 2022, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in St. Johnsbury.
Squires is a former licensed nurses aide (LNA), holding an expired Colorado license. Smires has a criminal record – he was arrested March 22 this year on Railroad St. in St. Johnsbury on an active warrant and lodged at the correctional facility for lack of $500 bail. He was found in violation of court-ordered condidtions of release in 2019.
No additional information is available at this time. The affidavit of probable cause will be filed with the court and made public following the suspects’ arraignment.