South Burlington man stays in jail in gun case tied to shooting

A South Burlington man who is charged with illegally buying two handguns — one of which was used less than 24 hours later by a suspected drug dealer in a double homicide shootout in Springfield, Mass. — will remain in prison as he awaits a possible trial.

Cameron Yee, 22, of Dover Street in South Burlington had asked to be released on conditions, but a fight in the prison the night before his hearing appeared to derail his request for freedom.

Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle said he was dismayed that Yee reportedly was involved in an assault on another inmate just hours before he was due at a hearing seeking his release.   

Yee, who attended South Burlington schools, was returned to the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town.

Yee was charged in November 2022 with making false statement during the purchase of a .40-caliber Glock at Dattilio’s Guns & Tackle on Shelburne Road in South Burlington on Oct. 11, officials said. 

The .40-caliber Glock was used the next morning by Andre “Jay” Yarns Jr., 32, of Springfield, Mass., in a shootout, records show. 

Justice Kirkland, 32, also of Springfield, died at the scene when city police arrived about 4:10 a.m. on Oct. 12, officials said.

Yarns was later pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

Yee was set to be freed last December after his defense attorney and prosecutors agreed to release him on conditions. But prosecutors filed a new motion to detain Yee two months later after he tested positive for illicit substances, court records show. His release was revoked after he was caught partying with his father at a bar and using cocaine and alcohol, the prosecution said. 

A new release plan was developed that would have addressed both Yee’s substance abuse issues and the safety of the community, according to court records.

An April motion for his release included Yee being admitted to Serenity House in Wallingford for residential substance abuse treatment and, once discharged, moving in with his older sister in South Burlington, records indicate.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher argued that the recent assault report showed Yee should be kept in jail.

Winooski Police arrested Yee last November on the aggravated domestic assault charge stemming from a claim by his ex-girlfriend that he strangled her throat, court records maintain.

Officer Nathan March said police responded to an apartment on Allen Street for a domestic complaint about 9:35 p.m. The woman was having trouble catching her breath and said Yee had choked her.

The double homicide in Springfield apparently happened when Yarns and Kirkland fired at each other through an apartment door, authorities said. Springfield Police said the victims were known to law enforcement and the shooting was targeted.

While dealing with the store clerk at Dattilio’s, Yee maintained both verbally and on a written purchase form that the handgun was intended for him, but Yee knew he had been provided $2,000 by a disqualified person to buy two handguns, court records show.

Yee has pleaded not guilty to a single felony gun charge.

The whereabouts of the second firearm bought by Yee, believed to be a 9-mm handgun, was not immediately known, officials said. Yee claimed to police the gun had been stolen.

Police maintain Yee admitted he had been given $2,000 to purchase two handguns by a person he knew as “Jay,” with the understanding that Jay would receive the .40-caliber handgun, records show.

Telephone records confirm Yee and Yarns had been in regular communication in the days before Yee’s purchase of the Glock. Yarns was not able to legally purchase a firearm due to his criminal history, including an out-of-state domestic assault conviction, records show.

If convicted on the gun charge, Yee faces up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Vermont and Massachusetts, and city police in both South Burlington and Springfield, Mass. worked together on the case.