Accused of shooting his sister as she burst into his mother’s home Monday, a Gillette, Wyoming, man has been charged with second-degree murder.
Vincent Hackett, 26, could face between 20 years and life in prison if he’s convicted.
Gillette Police Department officers were called at 8:06 p.m. Monday to a home on the 600 block of Carey Avenue when a neighbor heard a gunshot, according to an evidentiary affidavit by GPD Detective Dan Stroup and a prior statement by the city.
Hacket also called 911, admitted to shooting his half-sister, told police where the gun was and that it was unloaded, says the affidavit.
“Give me a hug, because I am going to jail,” the man told his mother just before police arrived, according to the document.
Police arrived and arrested Hackett.
They also found his half-sister, 33-year-old Haleigh Martinez, shot in the head on scene, Stroup wrote.
Emergency medical personnel tried life-saving measures and took her to the hospital. Hospital staffers found two more gunshot wounds, the document says.
Martinez was pronounced dead at the hospital minutes after arriving.
Stroup wrote that police found a single bare round of ammunition on the bed; also a shell casing behind the television, one under the table and a third on top of a Cheetos bag.
Mom Interview
Martinez’s mother was there during the incident, and Stroup interviewed her.
The mother had made plans to help clean Martinez’s home earlier that day. They drank together and Martinez became drunk, the document says. At about 3:15 p.m., the mother invited Martinez back to the mother’s home, Stroup wrote.
One of them (the affidavit is unclear which) invited another woman who is a mutual friend back to the home as well. The friend had Martinez’s children from a sleepover from Sunday evening, the affidavit says.
Hackett also was at the mother’s home.
Martinez’s mother said that “the relationship between Vincent and Haleigh was usually confrontational as Haleigh is a known drug user,” Stroup related from the affidavit. “Vincent does not approve of her lifestyle or how she raises her children.”
The three family members drank alcohol, tended the children and watched TV that night, the document says.
The affidavit says that at one point, Martinez overheard her female friend and her brother talking about her. She got upset and stormed out of the home with only stockings on her feet. The female friend picked Martinez up and took her to Martinez’s home.
After Dark Now
At 7:26 p.m., Martinez drove back to her mother’s home in a pickup, Stroup related from a review of city of Gillette traffic video.
Martinez and her brother argued. The mother broke up the argument and sent Hackett to a different part of the home, the document says.
But everyone, including the three children, were in the living room together after a while.
The siblings argued loudly, and Hackett told Martinez to leave the home. He escorted her to the front door, pushed our onto the porch and locked the deadbolt, says the document.
“This enraged Haleigh, who began beating on the door, demanding entry,” Stroup wrote. “Vincent was at the door yelling back at Haleigh. The door suddenly swung open, with Haleigh in the doorway.”
Hackett raised a pistol and fired one round into his sister’s face, and she fell, the document alleges.
The mother gathered the children and retreated to the back of the home, and at least two more shots sounded, Stroup wrote.
That was when Hackett went to hug his mother one last time, the agent added.
The mother said Hackett wasn’t afraid of Martinez, according to the document.
In Court
Hackett swiveled in his chair at his initial appearance Wednesday, as he told Gillette Circuit Court Judge Wendy Bartlett he planned to hire an attorney. He wore a bushy and blond handlebar moustache and spoke in a clear voice.
He has lived in Gillette his entire life, is currently unemployed but last worked at Pizza Carrello and is single with no children, Hackett told the judge.
He was residing at his mother’s home at 604 Carey in Gillette where the shooting happened, Hackett said.
His mother, who was identified in court as “J.H.” as a key witness to the alleged shooting, sat solemnly with a small crowd in the wooden seats in the galley behind her son.
Hank Lyon, Campbell County Deputy Attorney, asked Bartlett that Hackett be held on a $1 million cash-only bond, given the severity of the alleged incident as well as the weight of the evidence against him, despite his lack of a criminal record.
“Your honor, the charges against the defendant are about as serious as you can get,” Lyon said. “It’s a very tragic day for our community and the family that is here.”
Additionally, Lyon said, is Hackett’s purported admission to police that he shot the victim.
“He didn’t shoot her once. He didn’t shoot her twice, but three times,” he said.
The prosecutor asked that in addition to the high bond, Hackett have no contact with the key witnesses; or the minor children who were at the scene, or their father.
Bartlett set Hackett’s bond at $750,000 cash. She cited his danger to the community and weight of the evidence cutting against his lack of record and long-standing residence in the community.
Hackett’s preliminary hearing is set for January 30.
Update - This story has been updated to include Cowboy State Daily reporter Jen Kocher's in-person narrative from Hackett's initial appearance Wednesday in Gillette Circuit Court.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
