Outbursts by victim's mother prompts judge to bar her from Shawnde Washington's sentencing.
Syracuse police investigate the Sept. 14 fatal shooting of Justin Mills on West Brighton Avenue. Shawnde Washington pleaded guilty today to fatally shooting Mills.
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man originally accused of intentionally murdering another man in the city last September pleaded guilty today to recklessly causing the victim’s death by shooting him.
Shawnde Washington, 25, of 141 Wood Ave., pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to a felony count of second-degree manslaughter in the Sept. 14 death of Justin Mills.
Justin MillsMills, 18, was standing in a crowd of people in the 100 block of West Brighton Avenue when he was struck by a single shot fired from a .22-caliber rifle.
Washington will be sentenced June 28 to serve 6 ½ to 13 years in state prison.
Mills’ mother, Kimberly Milks, has been barred from attending the sentencing of her son’s killer based on her disruptive behavior in court at the plea this morning.
It started when defense lawyer Randi Bianco asked for Washington’s sentencing date to be put off beyond June 14 so her client could say goodbye to his family.
“Why the hell should he get to say goodbye to his family,” Milks shouted from the spectator section of the courtroom.
Brunetti said he was not going to order her thrown out of the courtroom because of the obvious emotional aspect of the case. But he ordered her to be quiet for the rest of the proceeding.
When the judge finished the case and deputies were taking Washington back into the adjacent holding cell, Milks began shouting obscenities as she and some other relatives stood to leave court. Brunetti immediately ordered Milks taken into custody and authorities ended up taking her into the adjacent holding cell area as well.
Moments later, Brunetti had Milks brought back before him in the courtroom. He told her that instead of holding her in contempt and fining or jailing her, the court was barring her from being in the courtroom when Washington is sentenced.
Authorities then released her from custody and she bolted from the courtroom to join her husband and the other relatives who had already left the area.
Bianco and Senior Assistant District Attorney Robert Duncanson both agreed there was no evidence that Washington was intending to shoot Mills or anyone the day of the fatal shooting. They also both agreed that Washington had only reluctantly agreed to come along with his stepfather, Theodore Pringle Jr., who had been involved in a series of disputes and altercations in the area that day.
Duncanson said Pringle wanted Washington to stand by with the gun in order to guarantee he could have a fair fight. But as the situation started to escalate, Washington “panicked” and fired a shot that he hoped would frighten people into backing away from the area, the prosecutor said.
Instead, that bullet struck Mills in the chest, killing him. Duncanson said Washington had been smoking marijuana laced with embalming fluid prior to the shooting.
Mills was not involved in any of the disputes with Pringle and had, in fact, offered some assistance to Pringle in his disputes with others that day, Duncanson said.
Duncanson said he agreed to have the grand jury indict Washington only on the reckless manslaughter charge given the evidence he only fired the one shot and was not intentionally trying to hurt anyone at the time.
Bianco said Washington has been remorseful since the incident and pleaded guilty to accept responsibility for his reckless conduct.