Harrison Thorp 12:30 p.m. ONLY IN THE VOICE
Saturday, March 15, 2025 12:25 pm
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DOVER - The daughter of the Rochester man accused of attempted murder during a confrontation with a neighbor over a snowplowing dispute testified on Friday that after Jason Levesque shot Kyle Violette five times her father got back in his plow truck and said to her, "What do we do?"
"What do you mean what do we do?" she replied
"Well do we run?"
"No, we don't run," his daughter replied.
"Yeah, you're probably right."
"I am right, like you don't run," she repeated,
Just seconds later police arrived at 41 Summer St., and Levesque, 45, stepped out of his truck with his hands up and was taken into custody by Rochester Police.
As Levesque looked on his daughter recounted that on April 4 during a raging snowstorm he picked her up at work and they returned home to plow their driveway.
They had made a few passes plowing snow when their neighbor, Kyle Violette, who shares the duplex at 43 Summer St., appeared standing in front of their truck and yelling at Levesque.
His daughter, who won't be named in The Rochester Voice, testified that she was about to get out of the truck but stopped when she saw Violette, who appeared extremely agitated, she said.
She testified that Violette told her dad to stop plowing snow into their driveway or he was going to kill him and his family.
His daughter, who took the stand with a comfort animal, a rabbit, said she has blurred memories of that night and the horrific incident that unfolded before her eyes.
Assistant Strafford County Attorney Joachim Barth asked numerous questions about where Violette was when he was shot and other details of the confrontation.
When she said she couldn't remember, Barth let her read a transcript of her initial interview with police to refresh her memory, but while she acknowledged she may have made those statements, she couldn't remember much about what led up to the shooting.
She testified that the two men were at arms' length face to face in front of their truck when the two began to separate and moments later a shot rang out.
"Did you see the firing of the weapon?" Barth asked.
She replied that she was looking at her upstairs window where a friend had been waiting for her.
"But I heard the shot," she testified.
After the first shot, Violette was struck by five more bullets, resulting in life-threatening injuries that put him in the hospital for a month. He still suffers from many wounds as well as PTSD, his longtime girlfriend testified earlier in the week.
During cross-examination defense attorney Mark Sisti, who is putting forth a self-defense narrative, asked Levesque's daughter if police let her review her interview transcript.
She said no.
She also testified that she heard Violette say he would kill Levesque and his family if he plowed snow onto his property.
"When Kyle first appeared in front of your truck, why didn't you just get out of the truck and go inside?" asked Sisti.
"I was scared," she replied.
"Were you afraid you might die?" Sisti asked.
"Yes," she said.
Sisti then referred to the same interview transcript when a detective asked her if shooting Violette was wrong.
"Do I think he should have shot him? No. Was he thinking about someone threatening to hurt his kid? We all react in different ways," she said. "I think he was just trying to make sure I didn't get hurt. And I know he will do anything to keep me protected. Do I think he was trying to protect me? Yes."
Levesque is facing life in prison if convicted.
The trial continues on Monday.