CT woman charged in Christmas Eve shooting at her home pleads not guilty, placed on house arrest

A woman accused of shooting a man who was reportedly her husband at a home in Newtown on Christmas Eve before barricading herself in the house pleaded not guilty to several felony charges Thursday and was placed on house arrest ahead of her anticipated release from custody.

Meghan Gouveia, 32, of Newtown entered her pleas at a hearing at Superior Court in Danbury, during which her attorney, Gene Zingaro, said her family intended to post her $500,000 bond. Zingaro said family members had a $150,000 certified check they would be giving to the clerk’s office, as a judge ordered at Gouveia’s arraignment in December that she must post 30% of her bail — allowable in Connecticut in cases involving firearms — and that she can only post bond at the courthouse.

Gouveia pleaded not guilty during the proceeding Thursday to several charges, including two counts of risk of injury to a minor and a single count each of first-degree assault, unlawful discharge of a firearm, criminal use of a firearm, first-degree reckless endangerment and negligent storage of a firearm. The matter was continued until Feb. 13 for a pretrial hearing.

According to the Newtown Police Department, officers responded to a report of a dispute at a home on Boggs Hill Road on Dec. 24 just before 8 p.m., where the first officers on the scene found the caller on the front porch of the residence suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Police have not identified the victim, but, according to Hearst Connecticut Media Group, it was revealed during Gouveia’s arraignment that the victim was reportedly her husband and that two children were inside the home during the incident.

Police said they were able to pull the victim to safety as Gouveia retreated into the residence and barricaded herself inside. The victim was taken to Danbury Hospital and listed in stable condition, according to police.

Members of the Western Connecticut Regional Emergency Services Unit were joined by multiple surrounding agencies in responding to the home before Gouveia “peacefully exited the residence” just before 1 a.m., Newtown police said.

Gouveia was held on a $1.5 million bond pending her arraignment on Dec. 26, when a judge reduced her bail to $500,000 and granted a request from state prosecutors that she post 30% of the bond before being released, according to court documents.

Newtown police have not disclosed any additional details about the case and have denied a Freedom of Information request from the Courant to release the incident report filed during the arrest.

Court documents indicate police during the arrest seized an “expended bullet” extracted from someone’s knee and multiple items of clothing belonging to someone whose name has been redacted from a seized property form.

Following Thursday’s hearing, Zingaro told The Courant he could not disclose any additional information about the case. He also said about half a dozen Gouveia supporters who attended the hearing did not wish to comment.

“It’s early,” Zingaro said. “The state is in the middle of its investigation, and we’re in the middle of ours.”

“I intend on getting my client evaluated and hopefully treated,” Zingaro said, declining to elaborate on the nature of the treatment.

“It’s medical so I shouldn’t,” he said.

While on house arrest, Gouveia will be on intensive pretrial supervision, which includes GPS monitoring, and will only be allowed to leave her mother’s Newtown home for medical or clinical appointments or check-ins with a supervising probation officer, a judge ordered. She is barred from having any weapons or ammunition and must obey three protective orders put in place at her arraignment hearing.

A judge also ordered during the hearing that sealed medical records for Gouveia, attached to her criminal court file, be released to both her attorney and state prosecutors.