On the evening of September 15, 2021, a distressing scene unfolded inside a vehicle traveling along U.S. Route 4 in Killington, Vermont. Twenty-eight-year-old Brittany Bouthiette, a White female from Mt. Holly, was found deceased from a gunshot wound to the head. The driver of the vehicle was her boyfriend, Cody Ahonen, also 28 and from Mt. Holly. The initial call to the police came in around 7:10 p.m., reporting a death inside a vehicle near the intersection with West Hill Road.
According to Ahonen's account to law enforcement, Bouthiette had become despondent and produced a semiautomatic handgun while he was driving. He reported that a struggle ensued over the weapon, during which Bouthiette shot herself. After the shot, Ahonen stopped the car and attempted to provide first aid. A passerby called 911, and Ahonen subsequently made a call to emergency services as well. When authorities arrived, Brittany Bouthiette was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Vermont State Police launched an investigation into the incident. An autopsy confirmed that Bouthiette's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, though the manner of death was initially listed as pending. Investigators found a Glock pistol in a roadside ditch where Ahonen had reportedly thrown it after the shooting.
Further investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bouthiette's death led to the arrest of Cody Ahonen on September 20, 2021, by federal agents. A search of the vehicle uncovered another pistol, a rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, approximately 175 grams of cocaine and cocaine base, a digital scale with white residue, and around $10,000 in cash. Ahonen was charged with possessing firearms as a prohibited person due to a prior misdemeanor conviction for domestic assault in 2012. He later admitted to owning the firearms and intending to distribute the drugs found in the car. In February 2023, Ahonen was sentenced to 48 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal drug and firearm charges. He was also ordered to forfeit the seized firearms.
