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# Vermont Jury Convicts Eaton in Shooting of 3 Palestinian Students
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-vermont-2026-09-23-b/
- Published: 2026-09-23T13:49:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T13:49:13.000Z
- Description: A Vermont jury convicted Jason Eaton on three attempted-murder counts for the 2023 shooting of three Palestinian college students, rejecting his insanity defense. Sentencing will follow under Vermont law.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Breaking News, Vermont

A Chittenden County jury has convicted Jason Eaton on three counts of attempted second-degree murder for shooting three Palestinian college students in Burlington in November 2023, rejecting his argument that he was legally insane at the time. The verdict followed roughly two hours of deliberations on Monday, according to [WCAX](https://www.wcax.com/2026/09/21/jury-finds-eaton-guilty-shooting-palestinian-american-students/?ref=theamericanquorum.com).

Eaton, 51, did not dispute that he fired at Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid as the three friends walked near his apartment on Nov. 25, 2023\. They were visiting Awartani’s grandmother for Thanksgiving, speaking English and Arabic, and two wore traditional Palestinian keffiyehs. Awartani was left paralyzed, while Aliahmad and Abdalhamid were also wounded, the [AP](https://apnews.com/article/e45b47e83e9f079817c66cd28a25afbe?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported.

The central question at trial was Eaton’s criminal responsibility. His lawyers argued that he was experiencing delusions and believed he was receiving commands through FM radio from intelligence agencies. Prosecutors countered that his behavior and statements showed he understood what he was doing and that it was wrong. The jury rejected the insanity defense and returned guilty verdicts on all three counts, according to [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/man-convicted-attempted-murder-shooting-three-palestinian-students-vermont-2026-09-21/?ref=theamericanquorum.com).

## Sentencing comes next

No sentencing date was announced with the verdict. Vermont law treats an attempt to commit murder as punishable in the same manner as the completed offense, under the state’s [attempt statute](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/13/001/00009?ref=theamericanquorum.com). The separate [murder law](https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/13/053/02303?ref=theamericanquorum.com) sets a sentence for second-degree murder at a minimum term of at least 20 years and a maximum of life, or life without parole. The court must still determine the sentence in Eaton’s case, so those statutory ranges are not a prediction of the outcome.

The shooting drew national attention because of the victims’ Palestinian identity and the timing, weeks after the Israel-Hamas war began. The students’ families have described the attack as motivated by hate. Prosecutors did not file a hate-crime charge, saying the available evidence did not meet the required threshold, an earlier [AP report](https://apnews.com/article/66aa46f9b1bba7492ce406e2bed64e16?ref=theamericanquorum.com) noted. The verdict therefore resolves the attempted-murder charges, not the broader dispute over motive.

At closing arguments, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George emphasized that the legal test focused on Eaton’s mental state at the moment of the shootings. Defense attorney Margaret Jansch similarly told jurors that the insanity question was fixed to that date, [WCAX reported](https://www.wcax.com/2026/09/21/jury-weighs-insanity-defense-jason-eaton-shooting-trial/?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Jurors heard testimony from the three victims as well as psychiatric experts before deciding the defense had not established legal insanity.

The decision moves one of Vermont’s most closely watched criminal cases into its sentencing phase. It also leaves intact an important distinction in the public record: the jury found Eaton criminally responsible for trying to kill three people, while the question of whether prejudice supplied the motive was not separately charged or decided.

Until sentencing, Eaton remains in custody. The next proceeding will determine how the three convictions translate into a prison term, including whether any sentences run at the same time or consecutively. Neither the verdict reports nor the governing statutes establish that outcome in advance.