A Central Florida juvenile was sentenced to prison for attempted murder in a Tampa game room shooting.
A judge sentenced 16-year-old Deondre Smith to 25 years in Florida State Prison after a jury found him guilty of attempted second-degree murder.
Smith was charged as an adult after surveillance video (see below) captured him firing at a person entering the doorway in a crowded game room located at the Boulevard West River apartments in Tampa.
Smith fired multiple rounds, causing injuries to one of his friends inside the game room instead of his intended target. Smith told investigators that he was planning to shoot whoever came through the door but did not know who he was firing toward.
“Charging a juvenile as an adult is one of the most difficult decisions to make as a prosecutor,” said State Attorney Suzy Lopez. “But when you make an adult decision with a firearm and hurt someone in the process, you will be held accountable on my watch. This lengthy sentence should send a strong message to teenagers who think their age protects them from consequences when it comes to gun violence in Hillsborough County.”
Assistant State Attorneys Timothy Byrnes and Nathan Watters successfully prosecuted this case. The Tampa Police Department was the investigating agency.
The State Attorney’s Gun Violence Unit secured a guilty verdict at Smith’s trial in July.
