WATERVILLE — A 20-year-old Vassalboro man is the second person to be charged in connection with a drive-by shooting last month at 42 Summer St. that left 7-year-old Emahleeah Frost with a bullet in her back.

Jeremiah Gamblin Waterville Police photo

Jeremiah Gamblin, of Vassalboro, was arrested at 12:15 p.m. Friday, March 13, on Crestwood Drive in Waterville on a warrant for failure to appear and a probation violation, according to Waterville Deputy police Chief Bill Bonney.

Bonney said Thursday that Gamblin was taken to Kennebec County jail in Augusta. At the jail on Monday police charged him with elevated aggravated assault, a Class A crime.

Gamblin’s bail is $750,000, according to Bonney, who said the charge is in connection with the Feb. 28 shooting. “That (charge) was obviously based on the original investigation, and we’re not identifying which of the people that have been arrested is the shooter,” Bonney said.

On March 9, police arrested Gavin T. Loabe, 18, of Mercer, and charged him with aggravated assault in connection with the case. Loabe allegedly was with the person who shot at Frost’s apartment building, striking her in her second-floor apartment when she was in her bedroom having a snack after school.

Asked Thursday about which man is alleged to have been the shooter, Bonney said he could not discuss details.

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“I don’t want to get into specifics of the investigation,” he said. “Obviously, we’re navigating through the system a little differently than we normally would because of the coronavirus outbreak, but we are still actively investigating …”

Emahleeah Frost, 7, is recovering after being injured Feb. 28 in a drive-by shooting at her family’s apartment at 42 Summer St. in Waterville. Photo courtesy of Davina Petchonka

Loabe was arraigned March 9. Information discussed in court that day suggested a “Mr. Vigue” had previously lived in the apartment on the second floor of 42 Summer St. and that he was the alleged target of the shooting because he had propositioned Loabe’s girlfriend for sex.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said later that it was important people understand Loabe was charged with aggravated assault — as an accomplice in the case.

Meanwhile, Bonney said Thursday that detectives are working every day on the case.

“We’re certain we’re going to bring a good case to the court when the court opens back up,” he said.

Frost was at Maine Medical Center in Portland for nearly a week before she was released March 5. She wears a chest cast and the bullet remains lodged between two vetebrae.

After leaving the hospital, Frost and her parents, Charles Frost Jr. and Davina Petchonka, and Emahleeah’s sister, Amber, 6, who was in Emahleeah’s bedroom when she was shot, did not go back to the Summer Street apartment. They were to stay at a hotel for a time before moving to a different place.

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