Vincent Steele, 52, of Riverview faces the possibility of decades in prison after a Manatee County jury found him guilty Thursday, Aug. 6, on all six counts stemming from a May 2024 road rage shooting in Palmetto that left a pregnant woman wounded.

The jury deliberated less than a day before convicting Steele of five counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to WWSB. A sentencing date has not been set.

The trial opened Tuesday, Aug. 4, after being postponed from its original June 1 start date due to a witness's health.

What happened in May 2024

According to investigators, Steele crashed into a pickup truck while trying to merge on a Palmetto road. After the collision, he got out of his vehicle, charged toward the truck with a handgun and fired six shots.

Inside the pickup were a woman pregnant with twins, her fiancé who was driving, and her daughter. Prosecutors said the pregnant woman was struck three times. The fiancé and daughter escaped injury, and the pickup was able to drive away from the scene. The woman and her unborn twins survived.

The trial

Prosecutors framed the case as a routine fender-bender that turned violent because Steele chose to escalate. In closing arguments Wednesday, Aug. 5, prosecutors told jurors "this was an incident of a simple car crash that escalated because Steele decided to take matters into his own hands."

Steele took the stand in his own defense Wednesday, telling jurors he grabbed a handgun from his center console after the crash. He testified that when he reached the truck, he saw the driver point a handgun at his face.

During his testimony, Steele told jurors he "fired four shots while falling backward and three more after he was on the ground because he feared the driver was still preparing to shoot him," according to WWSB's earlier coverage of the trial.

The defense argued Steele did not exhibit hatred, ill will or a depraved mind, the standard required for attempted second-degree murder. His attorneys had previously sought dismissal under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, but a judge denied that motion in October 2025.

The jury rejected the self-defense claim.

What's next

A sentencing date has not been scheduled.