by VDC staff

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with the August 11 assault on Church Street that led to the death of 42-year-old Scott Kastner.

Following a nearly three-week investigation, Burlington police announced that Isaiah Argro, 26, of Queens, New York, and Karson Taylor, 16, of South Burlington, were each charged with second-degree murder. Warrants for their arrest were issued on August 28.

Detectives arrested Argro on the evening of August 29 at a residence in Shelburne without incident. Hours later, in the early morning of August 30, Burlington officers assigned to the Emergency Response Unit arrested Taylor at a South Burlington nightclub after a brief struggle.

Both suspects are being held without bail at the Vermont Department of Corrections. They are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, September 2, in Chittenden County Superior Court, Criminal Division.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Kastner’s death a homicide. Preliminary autopsy findings issued August 27 confirmed that he died from complications of blunt force trauma to the head sustained during the August 11 attack.

Online searches show that a New York City resident named Isaiah Argro was charged in 2018 in a violent home invasion as a 19-year-old, and a Burlington resident named Karson Taylor once posted a memorial message for 16-year-old Madden Gouveia, who was shot and killed in Bristol in 2023. It is not confirmed whether these are the same individuals now charged in Kastner’s death.

Police thanked several partner agencies for their assistance, including the Chittenden County State’s Attorney, U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, UVM Police Services, Winooski Police Department, and South Burlington Police Department.