A judge sentenced a 23-year-old man to seven years in prison on Wednesday morning after he pleaded guilty to a drive-by shooting last year that left a woman paralyzed.
Zachary D. Seeton pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a firearm and two counts of drive-by shooting.
Seeton and a teenage boy were arrested in September in connection with a series of drive-by shootings. Another man, Gregory T. Lynch, who Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tom Treppiedi described as the "ring leader," was arrested shortly after the shootings. Lynch was sentenced to 10 years in prison in November.
Lynch, 20, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in connection with the shooting.
Three separate drive-by shootings targeted vehicles and residences across north Spokane between 10:30 p.m. and midnight on May 2, followed by a fourth shooting on May 3 in the same area.
Daisy Brough, a mother of an infant, was struck by a bullet that lodged into her spine. She attended the hearing virtually, but did not speak.
Doctors were unable to remove the bullet from her spine, so it's unclear who fired the shot, Treppiedi said. The shooters used various types of ammunition, based on the shell casings recovered from the scene.
The victim is paralyzed from the chest down, according to prosecutors.
"She's doing better now than when she was a year ago," Treppiedi said.
Seeton's defense attorney, Brooke D. Hagara, said her client moved to Spokane just a few months before the shootings occurred.
"He fell into a crowd of the wrong people and rapidly got himself into a whole lot of trouble," she told the court.
Seeton regretted his actions, she said.
"Honestly, your honor, I just want to say I'm sorry, and that's about it," he said when given an opportunity to speak.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Raymond F. Clary opted to sentence Seeton on the higher end of the sentencing range.
"This is a very substantial sentence," the judge said. "Unfortunately, Spokane has become plagued with young people shooting other young people for a considerable amount of time. This has been an issue for not only law enforcement ... but for people in the community as well."
