Manatee County Jury Convicts Man in 2024 Shooting of Pregnant Woman
Vincent Steele was found guilty Thursday of one count of second-degree attempted murder with a firearm, two counts of attempted manslaughter of an unborn child by injury to the mother with a firearm and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the State Attorney’s Office for the 12th Judicial Circuit.
The shooting occurred as Steele was merging onto northbound U.S. 41 and attempted to pass a pickup truck, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Steele’s vehicle collided with the truck’s bumper, causing him to lose control and come to a stop along the shoulder.
Investigators said Steele then got out of his vehicle, approached the passenger side of the pickup truck and fired seven rounds into the vehicle.
A 36-year-old woman who was pregnant with twins was sitting in the passenger seat and was struck multiple times in the torso. Neither of the unborn children was struck by the gunfire. The woman and everyone else inside the vehicle survived the shooting.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that the shooting was not justified and followed what began as a traffic incident.
Steele now faces a maximum sentence of 101 years in prison. The second-degree attempted murder conviction carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years in prison.
A sentencing date was not included in the information released by authorities.
