Criminal Justice & Public Safety

The lawsuit, filed this month in Franklin County civil court, alleges that prison staff didn’t provide adequate care to their son, who died from an apparent drug overdose in 2023.

Teresa Youngblut, 21, pleaded not guilty on Friday to new charges, including murder, related to the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent in Vermont earlier this year. If convicted, Youngblut could be sentenced to death.

Sgt. Kyle Kapitanski pleaded guilty on Thursday to negligent operation with death resulting, a misdemeanor charge. He is unlikely to face any prison time.

Two officers opened fire on James Crary of Newport, New Hampshire, as he was accelerating toward them in a vehicle, according to state police.

Scott Garvey moved to Vermont to be closer to his family and get better mental health treatment. A week after he arrived he was shot and killed by state police while in the midst of a mental health crisis.

Teresa Youngblut is part of a group of young computer scientists connected to six killings in three states. She initially faced weapons charges after the fatal shooting of agent David Maland in January but was charged with murder in a new indictment made public Thursday.

Nick Deml came to Vermont after seven years working at the CIA. He’d never worked in corrections before and was tasked with navigating the pandemic, reforming a toxic workplace culture, and addressing an acute staffing shortage.

The Vermont Agency of Education said it was unaware that a recent hire, whose job included shooting video in schools, had previously been investigated and faced a civil lawsuit for secretly filming two teenage girls in a changing room.

Nick Deml, the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, will step down from the post on Aug. 15. In a press release on Monday, Gov. Phil Scott said former Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad will take over as interim commissioner.

Vermont’s prison population has risen back near pre-pandemic levels, largely driven by an increase in people held pre-trial, according to the Department of Corrections.