Veronica Lewis hit with improvised blackjack, authorities say
By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
SOUTH BURLINGTON – A Washington County woman, who was the center of a major legal dispute in Vermont when State’s Attorney Sarah George dropped an attempted murder charge, only to be convicted by other state and federal prosecutors, is back in trouble with the law.
Veronica Lewis, 40, formerly of Worcester is facing a felony charge of aggravated assault with a weapon on another inmate at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, officials said.
Lewis, who is serving a state sentence for attempted second-degree murder for shooting her firearms instructor in Westford in 2015, entered her prison cell and attacked her sleeping cellmate, Yvonne Frederiksen, 52, about 4:55 a.m. May 29, according to the Vermont State Police and Corrections Department.
The attack was made with a facility-issued tablet computing device and a lock that had been placed inside a sock, according to VSP Detective Trooper Vienna Gildea.
Frederiksen received serious injuries and was rushed to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. She has since recovered from her injuries and has been sent back to the correctional facility.
Lewis is due for arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 1 at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington.
It is unclear who will be prosecuting the case. The state police news release did not mention investigators working with Sarah George on the case over the past two weeks to determine the proper charge. Neither George or Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark returned phone messages.
Former Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan started to prosecute Lewis for the attempted murder in 2015, but later became Vermont’s Attorney General. George, who became state’s attorney in 2017, decided to drop three homicide cases, including the Lewis case on May 31, 2019. George said she believed she would be unable to get convictions in any of the three cases because each defendant claimed insanity.
Gov. Phil Scott asked Donovan, as Attorney General with concurrent jurisdiction, to look at the three homicide cases – much to the public dismay of a vocal George. George claimed both men were being political. Donovan’s office picked up all three cases and later obtained convictions for each. George got into a snit with the Attorney General’s Office by trying to get the car of one of their prosecutors towed from the courthouse garage during one of the murder trials in Burlington.
Lewis received a prison sentence of 20 years to life with all but 10 years suspended for the near fatal shooting of Darryl Montague at his business Vermont Target Sports on Pettingill Road on June 29, 2015. He was shot three times and left for dead by Lewis. Judge Martin Maley sentenced her about six years later after the legal fight unfurled. Lewis is due for release from her state sentence on Oct. 16, the Vermont Corrections Department said.
Federal Judge Christina Reiss also imposed a 6-year prison sentence in U.S. District Court in May 2021 after Lewis pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen .22-caliber firearm from Montague and a robbery count. Lewis got credit from June 12, 2019 and will be on 3 years federal supervised release once she is discharged from prison.
After George dismissed the attempted murder count against Lewis, former U.S. Attorney Christina Nolan had quickly charged her with three federal felonies before the Attorney General’s Office could respond. Nolan also overcame the insanity claim by Lewis while prosecuting the case in federal court.
Anyone with information that could assist detectives in this case is asked to contact Detective Gildea at (802) 878-7111.
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