VT man eligible for trial for shooting Palestinian students

A Vermont man accused of shooting and hospitalizing three students of Palestinian descent a year ago is fit to stand trial, according to a ruling following a hearing in Chittenden County Superior Criminal Court.

Jason J. Eaton, 49, was deemed competent to stand trial by an evaluator who conducted a psychiatric evaluation, Judge John Pacht said, according to an audio recording of Tuesday’s hearing provided by the court.

There was no further discussion about the evaluation.

Court records show Eaton’s public defender requested a competency evaluation on August 27. The evaluation was conducted on September 20 by Dr. Keelin Garvey and Garvey’s report was filed on September 27.

Eaton reportedly shot the three 20-year-old students outside his apartment near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington on Nov. 25, a Saturday evening, authorities said.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad were walking along a residential street, talking in a mixture of English and Arabic, police said. Two wore keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves.

Then, according to police, a man with a gun stepped off a porch and shot them all without saying a word.

The three students survived their injuries but were initially hospitalized in intensive care.

Two days after the shooting, Eaton pleaded not guilty to three attempted murders. He has been held without bail since he was arrested at his Burlington apartment last year.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Pacht extended the deadline for depositions from December 16 to May 31 at the request of Eaton’s attorney.

Eaton’s attorney, Peggy Jansch, said she needed more time to complete testimony from an estimated 30 prosecution witnesses, including about 20 law enforcement officers.

Prosecutors objected, saying such a delay would delay a trial until the end of 2025.

Pacht has a status hearing scheduled for next March.

“Then you’ll have a better idea of the direction things are going,” Pacht said.

Tonya Alanez can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @talanez.