Photo Courtesy of Instagram (@bellforus)
According to M-Live, the Michigan man shot at 6-year-old Coby has been sentenced to serve 40 to 15 years in prison by Washtenaw County Trial Judge Darlene O’Brien Thursday, April 14.
On March 17, 30-year-old Ryan Cuong Le-Nguyen was charged after he pleaded no contest to one count each of discharging his firearm in a building resulting in injury, a 15-year felony, and felony firearms, a 2-year felony.
His remaining charges of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, discharging a firearm in a building, assault with intent to murder, and two counts of felony firearms were dismissed at his sentencing since he pleaded no contest.
“Even though this was very reprehensible conduct, adults should be the ones protecting children, not shooting them. I do believe the sentencing agreement is appropriate given all the circumstances,” Judge O’Brien stated.
Before serving his new sentence in prison, the Michigan man would have to finish his two-year felony firearms sentence, in which he has spent a little over 300 days behind bars.
The incident occurred on June 6, 2021, around 4:30 p.m. The 6-year-old boy and a couple of the friends he was playing with, ages 10 and 11, stated that they were playing “monkey in the middle” when their ball landed in the yard of Le-Nguyen’s home in Ypsilanti Township. The shooter ran out with a hammer and yelled at the kids to get off his property. One child went to retrieve the ball while the others ran next door to inform the victim’s 11-year-old brother what had happened.
The 6-year-old and his older brother knocked on Le-Nguyen’s door before splashing red Gatorade on his door and running away. As they ran, a gunshot was heard, and they realized the little boy had been shot through the back of his upper arm. The children ran home and informed their parents, who called 911. The shooter called 911 as well to report an attempted break-in.
As reported by News Onyx, Le-Nguyen was initially released on a $10,000 bail before a motion passed that increased the amount to $100,000, which sent the suspect back to jail.