On a cold winter day in Georgia, Vermont, the life of a 57-year-old White male named David M. Hill of Fairfax was tragically cut short. On January 2, 2017, Hill was in a tractor-trailer on Georgia Mountain Road with another man, Mark Brito, when a confrontation turned deadly. A local resident, 26-year-old Ethan Gratton, reportedly engaged them in a dispute that escalated to gunfire. Hill sustained a fatal gunshot wound and died at the scene.
His death was later ruled a homicide by the medical examiner.
The violent encounter also left 27-year-old Mark Brito of Fairfax with life-threatening injuries. Brito was rushed to the University of Vermont Medical Center for treatment. In the aftermath of the shooting, Vermont State Police quickly identified Ethan Gratton as the shooter. He was taken into custody and subsequently charged with second-degree murder for the death of David Hill and attempted second-degree murder for the shooting of Mark Brito. Gratton was held on $100,000 bail. The motive for the altercation that led to the shooting was not immediately clear to investigators.
David Hill, a self-employed logger for most of his life, was remembered as a man who loved getting together with family and friends. He enjoyed simple pleasures like watching western movies and listening to Blue Grass music. He was a father and grandfather, survived by his two daughters and several grandchildren. His unexpected death left a void in the lives of his loved ones, who remembered him as a big man with a big laugh who would give you the shirt off his back.
