CHELSEA — On the evening of Oct. 5, prosecutors say a Subaru Crosstrek driven by 24-year-old Kyle Hunt turned in front of a Kawasaki dirt bike on Richardson Road in Orange, killing 16-year-old Kaylee Bailey.
Hunt, of Washington, was later charged with a felony count of vehicle operation-gross negligence/fatal and a misdemeanor count of giving false information to a law enforcement officer. The felony carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison; the misdemeanor, up to a year.
Hunt’s first arraignment was delayed. Bailey’s friends and family waited in the snow outside the courthouse that day, only to learn the hearing wouldn’t happen.
Supporters gathered again this past March, when Hunt pleaded not guilty in Orange Superior Court and was released on personal recognizance. At the suggestion of court security, his attorney, Timothy Bryon Fair of the Williston-based firm Fair Law Vermont, later wrote that Hunt had to wait about 10 minutes before leaving the courthouse “because a group of individuals was waiting for him outside.”
“Their presence was strong and visible,” Fair wrote.
In late June, Fair filed a motion asking to move the trial out of Orange County, arguing that community support for Bailey threatened Hunt’s chance at a fair trial. The motion, he added, was not directed at Bailey’s family and supporters.
“The loss of a young person is devastating, and the defendant does not minimize the grief of the decedent’s family, friends, school community or the broader community,” he wrote.
The issue, Fair argued, was whether Hunt could get a fair trial from a jury pool in Orange County — “a small, rural county where the case has generated strong and visible feeling.”
In a case involving the death of a teenager, he wrote, the relationships among prospective jurors, Bailey’s family and friends, local schools, first responders, witnesses and community members are likely “to be close, overlapping and difficult to detect fully” during jury selection.
“Upon information and belief, the jury pool in Orange County has already been tainted by community knowledge, discussion, sympathy and strongly held views surrounding the death and the charge against the defendant,” he wrote.
Orange County State’s Attorney Colin Seaman did not oppose the change of venue. Fair wrote in the motion that both sides “recognize that the fairness and perceived legitimacy of any verdict will be better protected by selecting a jury outside Orange County.”
Judge Timothy Tomasi granted the change to Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington, ruling that “such a transfer will further the interests of justice.” Court records show the case will be trial-ready by April 2027.
Bailey’s mother, Heather Bailey of Bradford, supported moving the case an hour and a half from where she lives. If it had stayed in Orange County, she said in a phone interview Monday, “we wouldn’t see any justice whatsoever.” “[Hunt] and his family are very well known in the community,” she said, pointing to the likelihood that community sentiment could taint prospective jurors.
She declined to detail her conversations with Seaman, who remains the prosecutor, before the state decided not to oppose the venue change. She said she’s hopeful the move will let the case proceed more quickly. “I think if it stayed in Chelsea, it would have prolonged even longer,” she said.
“[Bailey supporters] have every right to grieve, to attend public court proceedings, and to support one another,” Fair wrote in the motion.
Bailey’s family and friends plan to attend hearings now being held in Burlington, Heather Bailey said. On the evening of Oct. 5 — the one-year anniversary of her daughter’s death — they’ll hold a candlelight vigil on Richardson Road in Orange, the scene of the crash.
Phone efforts to reach Hunt were not successful Monday.
