Two women arrested, accused of helping suspects in Burlington shooting

Two women have been accused of helping suspects alleged to have killed a 23-year-old man and injured another in Burlington's Old North End.

Takesha Thomas, 26 of Orlando, Florida, appeared in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington on Tuesday and denied a felony charge of being an accessory after the fact. Angelina Pearson-Fitzpatrick, 54, of Burlington had been scheduled to appear for arraignment Tuesday morning on the same allegation, but the hearing was likely going to be rescheduled due to an undisclosed medical issue, her attorney Christopher Moll said.

Both had appeared via video on Monday, but they invoked a rule that would delay their arraignments by 24 hours, court papers show. They have both been jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail. 

Burlington police also announced in a Twitter post on Tuesday that they had recovered guns believed to be used in the shooting of Burlington resident Benzel Hampton from woods near the Queen City. They found .380 and .22 caliber pistols, magazines and ammo, police said. Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said the location of the items was disclosed by one of the suspects in her police interview.

Burlington police say the two women provided aid to murder suspects Brandon Sanders, 18, of Burlington and Johnny Ford, 32, of Florida, by providing transportation, procuring hotel rooms, and allegedly discarding clothing worn by the suspects during the April 16 shooting on North Willard Street.

Previous coverage:

• Loved ones of Burlington shooting victim: Criminal record does not define him
• Video: Burlington shooting victim's fiancée: 'We just wanted a good life.'
• Three more people with Florida ties will face charges related to Burlington shooting
• Burlington shooting: Woman arrested in connection to Old North End incident
• One dead after drug-related shootout in Burlington's Old North End

Both women were found to have traveled with Sanders and Ford when the two men were arrested in Connecticut last week. Sanders and Ford are still in Connecticut, but Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George said she hopes they can be transported back to Vermont this week for arraignment. 

The women were initially interviewed in Connecticut, but they were later re-interviewed and arrested by Burlington police, the department said. 

The women's arrests bring the total suspect count in the shooting incident to six. 

Witness: Murder suspects gave garbage with clothes to two women

Police had pinged Pearson-Fitzpatrick's phone the day after the shooting since her van wasn't at her home and police were concerned for her safety. The phone ping began with locations in Massachusetts and led to a high-risk traffic stop in Enfield, Connecticut. Sanders was apprehended during the traffic stop, and Ford was later taken into custody at the Motel 6 in Enfield, court papers show. 

The two women were interviewed in Connecticut by Burlington authorities, but they were allowed to remain free. Police also later discovered that Sanders, Ford, Pearson-Fitzpatrick and Thomas had rented a room in Massachusetts under the name of one of Thomas' relatives, the affidavit states. 

A witness not identified by court papers told police he or she heard sirens the day of the shooting and then saw Sanders and Ford run down a driveway on LaFountain Street. The two men entered an apartment and changed their clothes, court papers show. 

The men then gave a garbage bag with the clothes to Thomas and Pearson-Fitzpatrick, and the two women left the house with it. The witness told police that Ford and Sanders told the women that "they needed to take the bag and put it in a dumpster somewhere," court papers state.

Ford told the witness that the two men had run back to the house after the shooting and gave details of how and where the incident occurred, an affidavit states. Police said Burlington detectives who initially interviewed the two women in Connecticut did not have the information from this witness until they returned to Vermont.

On April 19, Pearson-Fitzpatrick and Thomas returned to Vermont to collect their phones, which had been seized in Connecticut. Pearson-Fitzpatrick declined to speak to police, and she was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact. Police did not inform Thomas of Pearson-Fitzpatrick's arrest.

Thomas, who consented to another interview, told the police that she had just been told to take out the trash on the day of the shooting, but she did not know what was in it. In the affidavit, Burlington Detective Eric Dalla Mura noted there were multiple trash receptacles outside the LaFountain Street home.

"Takesha acted like it was normal to drive the trash away," Dalla Mura wrote in the affidavit. "Her only explanation was that there was a lot of trash in the house." 

Thomas said she left the home in the van as Pearson-Fitzpatrick drove, but she did not know the area to which they went. She said they placed the bag in a dumpster behind a grocery store in a plaza within 10 to 20 minutes driving distance from the apartment. 

Thomas agreed to drive in a car with police to attempt to point out the location where she and Pearson-Fitzpatrick disposed of the bag. After two hours of driving, she was unable to identify the exact location, police wrote in the affidavit. 

Earlier arrests related to Old North End shooting

Lesine Woodson, 32, of Orlando, Florida, appeared in court last week and denied charges of aiding in the commission of second-degree murder and being an accessory after the fact. She has been jailed without bail. Police say she drove three men who had attacked Hampton away from the scene. 

Once back in Vermont, Sanders and Ford will face charges of aiding in the commission of second-degree murder. James Felix, 36, of Orlando Florida, who was injured in an exchange of gunfire with Hampton, has been receiving treatment at the University of Vermont Medical Center since last week. It is unclear when he may be arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder, but Chittenden County Deputy State's Attorney Justin Jiron said it likely will not occur before Thursday. 

Thomas will again appear in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington on Wednesday as her assigned attorney was unable to appear for arraignment. She was instead represented by a stand-in attorney. As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, Pearson-Fitzpatrick's arraignment hearing had not been rescheduled. 

Police have said the three men attacked Hampton outside a home on North Willard Street while Hampton was completing a drug deal. They believe the shooting was drug-related.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP.