CT man charged with manslaughter one year after girlfriend was fatally shot during heated argument

A Stamford man is facing manslaughter charges in connection with the 2022 homicide of his girlfriend, police said.

The Stamford Police Department‘s Major Crimes Unit charged 41-year-old Anthony Ray Vines Jr. with one count of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm for the September 2022 death of 36-year-old Mary Stephanie Guirand, according to police.

Vines and Guirand were in a domestic relationship living on Woodside Green in Stamford. On Sept. 13, 2022, the Stamford Emergency Dispatch Center received a 911 phone call from a man, later identified as Vines, saying he shot his girlfriend and that he believed she was dead, police said.

An initial investigation confirmed that Guirand had been shot once under the chin during what Vines described as a heated argument over the payment of a bill, according to police.

Vines claimed that the shooting was an accident, alleging that he armed himself with a gun to stop Guirand from attempting to slash him with a kitchen knife, police said. The knife and gun were recovered from the scene near Guriand’s body.

After an extensive investigation, forensic evidence revealed several inconsistencies with Vines’ version of the events, according to police.

Vines, a convicted felon, has been in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Correction since the homicide, stemming from a related charge of criminal possession of a firearm, police said.

Vines’ bond for firearm possession has remained at $500,000, while the court-set bond for the manslaughter charge is an additional $500,000, according to police.