WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A judge has accepted the guilty plea of a woman involved in a fatal shooting in Hartford last August on a felony charge of accessory to attempted assault and robbery.
In pleading guilty on Wednesday, Michelle Mullins admitted to participating in an attempted robbery on Aug. 21, 2025, along with Jeffrey Mullins, 46, and Demetrius Drew, 31, at a house on Verna Court.
The incident resulted in the fatal shooting of David Labrecque, 65.
Mullins, 49, who appeared Wednesday in Windsor Superior Court, was initially charged with aiding in the commission of first-degree murder in addition to the charge she admitted guilt to in the plea deal, which she signed in May.
Drew allegedly shot Labrecque as he came to the aid of his girlfriend Jessica Lemay, who was shot twice in the abdomen and hand, but survived. Labrecque was pronounced dead at the scene.
Drew shot Labrecque multiple times in the chest and abdomen, according to the affidavit in support of the charges.
When taken into custody later on the same day of the early morning shooting, the Mullinses told police that they were participating in a plot to steal drugs from the residence, according to the affidavit.
Drew was charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted assault and robbery with a weapon. His trial is not expected to begin until next year, court records show.
The Mullinses initially were both charged with aiding in the commission of first-degree murder and accessory to attempted assault and robbery.
Accessory to attempted assault and robbery, which both Mullinses pleaded guilty to, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
They both took plea deals to avoid being tried on the aiding in first-degree murder charge, which carries a potential penalty of up to life in prison, the Valley News has previously reported.
Jeffrey Mullins’ plea deal includes a sentence of six to 10 years suspended to six months and 10 years of probation, and Michelle Mullins’ deal includes six to 10 years suspended to six months with 12 years of probation.
Jeffrey Mullins’ sentencing date has not yet been scheduled in Windsor Superior Court.
Michelle Mullins, who was in court on Wednesday afternoon for a change of plea hearing where Judge Elizabeth Mann accepted her guilty plea to the lesser charge, also does not have a trial date.
Lemay, the victim who survived the shooting, was present in the courtroom on Wednesday and visibly frustrated, shaking her head at times at Mullins, who was in tears.
Mullins’ deal, both parties in the case agreed, is contingent on a cooperation agreement between Mullins and the state ahead of Drew’s trial.
Mann deemed it unnecessary to make the cooperation agreement a public record. Jeffrey Mullins’ plea deal also stipulates his compliance in a cooperation agreement.
When approached by the Valley News after the hearing on Wednesday, Michelle Mullins’ attorney, David Sleigh, and both prosecutors from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, Franklin Paulino and Nicholas Battey, declined to comment.
