Manslaughter trial begins for retired Portsmouth police officer
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A jury began to see evidence Monday in the trial of Vincent McClean, charged with voluntary manslaughter in the 2018 death of Carmeita “Carly” VanGilder.
The Commonwealth alleges that McClean did not do enough to protect VanGilder, who was 11 weeks pregnant at the time. She died while in police custody Dec. 13, 2018.
The prosecution showed the jury video of VanGilder in the back of McClean’s police car.
Several times she asked the officers for water. McClean said “as soon as we get downtown” and told a state police investigator that VanGilder did not complain of any medical issues.
Earlier that evening, VanGilder was in the car of a Good Samaritan who had offered to take her to a homeless shelter, but VanGilder refused to get out of the woman’s car. The driver approached McClean and his partner in the parking lot of Walmart on Frederick Boulevard.
McClean checked and found that VanGilder had an outstanding warrant for use of dangerous substances. She had with her five cans of compressed air in a Walmart bag.
McClean and his partner took her to the magistrate’s office. McClean told state police investigators he believed the compressed air could be used as inhalant. VanGilder went into seizures while in a holding cell in the booking area of the jail. Her cause of death was heart malfunction — with recent cocaine use and inhaling the gas known as difluoroethane as contributing causes.
Lead defense attorney Michael Massie said in his opening statement that VanGilder’s death “was a tragedy, but not a tragedy caused by Vincent McClean.”
McClean was indicted for manslaughter in a separate case earlier in 2018, but was found not guilty at trial last summer. Following that verdict, and on the same day, he was indicted for manslaughter in the death of VanGilder.
The VanGilder family was awarded a $550,000 judgment against the city of Portsmouth in Carly VanGilder’s death. McClean’s defense team succeeded in barring any mention of that civil award during the current criminal trial.
The trial continues Tuesday morning.
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