Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable..

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable.

A judge ruled that Courtney L. Samplatsky, 34, of Fair Haven, seen here Tuesday in Rutland criminal court, will remain in jail while a charge of 2nd-degree murder is pending. Samplatsky is accused of shooting Sincere M. Johnson, 46, of New York City, on Baxter Street in Rutland on June 11.

A judge ruled that Courtney L. Samplatsky, 34, of Fair Haven, seen here Tuesday in Rutland criminal court, will remain in jail while a charge of 2nd-degree murder is pending. Samplatsky is accused of shooting Sincere M. Johnson, 46, of New York City, on Baxter Street in Rutland on June 11.

A Fair Haven woman accused of shooting and killing a Black man at a Baxter Street apartment June 11 will remain in jail, but her attorney said she plans to challenge the admission of alleged evidence filed in support of charging the death as a hate crime.

Courtney L. Samplatsky, 34, was arraigned in Rutland criminal court on July 8 on a felony count of 2nd-degree murder and a felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The murder charge is based on the fatal shooting of Sincere M. Johnson, 46, of New York City, who was also known as “Corey.” Police found his body at the Baxter Street home on June 12.

During the alleged incident, two people, Brent Newton, 48, and his son, Matthew Newton, were in the Baxter Street home. They told police that during the incident that resulted in Johnson’s death, Samplatsky pointed a gun at them and told them not to move. The aggravated assault charge is based on that allegation.

The murder charge was modified to a “hate-motivated crime,” which can be filed if the prosecution believes the defendant’s actions were motivated by “the victim’s actual or perceived protected category.”

If the underlying charge, in this case, 2nd-degree murder, carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison or more, that penalty will apply if the defendant is convicted, but the court is directed to “consider the motivation of the defendant as a factor in sentencing.”

A supplemental affidavit filed in the case by Detective Tyler Billings, of the Rutland City Police Department, said Billings spoke with Samplatsky at the Concord Hospital in New Hampshire on June 15.

Billings said when he entered Samplatsky’s hospital room she was asleep. He said he woke her, explained who he was and said he wanted to speak with her. Billings said she agreed to talk to him.

“Samplatsky advised she thought I was a doctor. I then told Samplatsky I was a detective with Rutland City Vermont. She then became very alert and stated, ‘You’re from Vermont, do you know what’s going on,’” Billings wrote in the affidavit.

On Tuesday, Samplatsky was in court for a weight of evidence hearing, during which a judge would decide whether a defendant will be held in custody pending the resolution of the charges or be given a chance to be released.

None of the information from Billings’ affidavit was used during the hearing because it did not relate to the question of whether or not Samplatsky would be held.

However, attorney Mary Kay Lanthier, who represents Samplatsky, said she planned to file a motion asking that the alleged statement given to Billings be suppressed.

Lanthier said she believed she could prove the alleged statements given by Samplatsky were voluntary.

After the hearing, Lanthier said no motions had been filed yet.

Samplatsky was ordered on July 8 to be held without bail. She was arraigned remotely.

During Tuesday’s hearing, at which Samplatsky appeared in person in a dark-colored, oversize T-shirt, white sweatpants, Velcro sneakers and a face mask, Lanthier raised only one objection to the state’s request to continue to hold her client without bail.

“I don’t think there’s any information to suggest that the individual that is most referred to as ‘the female,’ as ‘Courtney,’ as ‘Courtney Samplatsky,’ is the female sitting next to me,” she said.

Judge David Fenster rejected Lanthier’s objection.

“The court is not aware of any case law that suggests that at this juncture, the state must also physically identify the defendant in the court,” he said.

Fenster said the state, represented on Tuesday by Ian Sullivan, acting state’s attorney for Rutland County, and Victoria Santry, a deputy state’s attorney, had provided sufficient evidence, for the purposes of the early stage of the case, that Samplatsky had been responsible for shooting Johnson.

Sullivan played several recordings of police interviews with alleged witnesses involved in the case including Brent Newton, who told police he saw Samplatsky with a 9 mm gun on July 11 at the Baxter Street home.

“It was her and her boyfriend that shot him” he said.

Michael O’Brien, 35, of Fair Haven, was arraigned Monday in Rutland criminal court on a felony charge of aiding in the commission of a second-degree murder. O’Brien is being held without bail.

Brent Newton also told police during the video-recorded interview that he was asleep on a couch in the Baxter Street house when he was awakened by the sound of gunshots.

“I was scared. I was scared out of my mind,” he said.

Brad Saldi, the resident of the Baxter Street apartment, told police during his interview that he had rented space to Johnson in the apartment. He claimed that Johnson was a drug dealer who sold heroin and crack cocaine. Saldi said he had few contacts with Johnson although he admitted to police to having a substance-abuse problem himself.

According to Saldi, Samplatsky and O’Brien had said things about “not liking the Black race” and showed people, including him, they were carrying guns.

Saldi told police he was not in the home at the time Johnson was shot.

An affidavit filed in the case said Samplatsky told police, “Every n— should die out there” and said “Every African American in Rutland is (raping and assaulting young girls.)”

Police said O’Brien and Samplatsky were arrested on June 15 in New Hampshire. Samplatsky allegedly had a Ruger Model 9E 9 mm handgun at the time.

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