BURLINGTON — A 43-year-old Jeffersonville transgender resident, who police say was involved in two serious aggravated assault cases, has been cleared by a jury for an unrelated attempted second-degree murder charge for a near-fatal shooting in Burlington 2 ½ years ago.

Tovi Rose Mesick, formerly known as Christopher M. Mesick, claimed self-defense when Stephen Furtado, now 47, was shot inside his residence at the Salmon Run Apartments on Riverside Avenue in Burlington in February 2023.

The defendant, who had gone to probate court in 2020 to get a name change to a woman, was referred throughout the trial as “Mr. Mesick” and “he.”

Mesick testified in his own defense this month that he fired the one shot because he was in fear for his life.  Burlington Police found Furtado was covered in blood from the single gunshot to his chest.

Mesick had just returned from Florida and had been staying with Furtado and his wife, Heidi, then-41, for about 3 days.

An argument developed upstairs between Mesick and Stephen Furtado.  His wife said she overheard “get out” and what later proved to be a gunshot.  She said the shooter was about 95 pounds, with shoulder length dirty blonde or brown hair.

The victim reported the shooter was a crossdresser named “Tovi,” Cpl. Joseph Corrow in his report. Mesick was known to Burlington Police from earlier encounters.

Winooski Police took Mesick into custody on Main Street near Lafountain Street about a half hour after the 6:30 p.m. shooting, Burlington Police said.

The jury heard three days of testimony.  Lawyers gave closing arguments and Judge John Pacht explained the law to the jurors on Friday afternoon.  They deliberated about two hours before clearing Mesick on two felony charges: attempted second degree murder and aggravated assault.

Defense lawyer James Valente of Brattleboro presented Mesick and Burlington Detective Cpl. Krystal Wrinn to show it was self-defense.

Deputy State’s Attorney Ryan Richards and Eliza Novick-Smith used a handful of witnesses, including the victim and his wife, Winooski Police Sgt. Mike McCormick and Burlington Officer Brady McGee to try to prove the case.

Mesick is well known in Vermont to federal and state law enforcement for gun and other weapon cases.  They include a 2020 indictment in U.S. District Court that charged the defendant with illegal possession of firearms while being both a convicted felon and a drug user, records show. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and state police found 16 firearms, including several high-powered assault rifles at Mesick’s home in Jeffersonville in January 2020. Seven pistols, five rifles and four shotguns were seized, including some hidden under the floor boards in a bedroom at the two-story home, the ATF said.  Three AR-15 style rifles had bayonets, the ATF said.

Investigators also found 400 pounds of ammunition and a large bag of marijuana at the Main Street home near the Cambridge Elementary School, the ATF said.  ATF Special Agent Tam Vieth reported state police had been asked to do a welfare check at the home in January 2020

Mesick was on state probation at the time with a 5-year deferred sentence for felony aggravated assault with a .45-caliber pistol for pointing it at a victim in Burlington in June 2015, records show.  He had told the victim, “I’m going to shoot you,” prosecutor Wendy Fuller said.  Fuller said Mesick resisted arrest when police responded.

State prosecutors in Chittenden County had allowed Mesick to plead guilty to the felony gun assault in September 2017 but offered a deferred sentence that allowed for the criminal conviction to be eliminated by staying out of trouble for five years.

The gun pointing conviction came one month after a gross operation case for a motorcycle chase through several towns in Franklin and Chittenden County, then-Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy noted when detaining him pending trial.

Mesick also had an earlier aggravated assault charge in Burlington for cutting open a man and his organs were hanging out on Main Street during the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2013, records said. City Police found Mesick with a knife and loaded handgun and he resisted arrest, but the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped all charges in that case, records show.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher, when dropping the federal gun charges in August 2021, said the government was told Mesick believed his possession of firearms was legal because his earlier defense lawyer, Jasdeep Pannu, maintained the aggravated assault conviction for pointing a firearm would be wiped off the defendant’s criminal record.

Then-Assistant Federal Defender David McColgin said Mesick served in the military from 1999 to 2009, including a deployment to Iraq from 2005-06 and won multiple service-related awards.

Mesick had more than 150 missions as a gunner with the Vermont Army National Guard, McColgin said.

At the time Mesick said she got blown up three times with the final one in May 2006 being the worst. That is when she was awarded the Purple Heart, Mesick said.

McColgin told the court Mesick suffered a traumatic brain injury.

When the federal charges got dropped, Mesick asked for the return of the guns, but a federal prosecutor argued the defendant might not be the best person to possess them due to struggles with mental health and substance abuse since leaving the military.

Mesick served as a “shoot-house instructor” with the Vermont National Guard, records showed.  The seized guns were a mix of weapons handed down by Mesick’s parents and those purchased while serving with the military, McColgin said.  

Christopher Mesick went to Probate Court in Lamoille County in September 2020 to legally change his birth name to Tovi Rose Mesick, court records show.  Mesick also petitioned the federal court to be called “Ms. Mesick” and use the pronouns “she” and “her.”  The public file in federal court uses both names.   

However, during the trial this month Mesick looked completely different from when he was arrested by Burlington Police in February.  During the Burlington trial he was dressed in a suit and had some military pins and medals on the jacket and a Purple Heart tie clasp.  He had a military-style haircut and wore glasses at times.

Mesick is still facing a theft charge for reportedly stealing $20 worth of knives and other weapons from Aubuchon Hardware on Vermont 15 in Jeffersonville in April of this year.

Lamoille County State’s Attorney Aliena Gerhard said she transferred the theft and violation of conditions cases to Chittenden in an effort to get all the legal issues resolved by one office.

State police said a court-ordered search of Mesick’s Main Street residence located dozens of knives and other edged weapons, including swords and axes, according to a report by Trooper Michelle Archer.

Richards, the prosecutor, did not respond to an inquiry about those charges.  A court spokeswoman said the charge are pending with no scheduled hearings.