Zeon Detwan Garner was sentenced for the 3-person shooting that occurred on May 30 in the the 800 block of Edwards Ferry Road NE in Leesburg.
That evening, Garner was with his mother and sister, and they encountered three people in the courtyard of the apartment complex. According to Leesburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Office, Garner had an ongoing issue with one of those individuals, and one of them allegedly brandished a firearm as Garner passed with his family.
After escorting his family inside, said Garner came back out of the apartment, passed the group again, who Garner said continued to “mean mug” him. He went back to the vehicle and got a 9mm, the prosecution argued.
This time, when he came back to the courtyard, he “immediately opened fire on the group, firing at least eight rounds in their direction,” according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
All three individuals were shot.
Two of the three have fully recovered from their injuries, but one person still suffers from significant impairment of function because of the wounds he sustained from Garner, the prosecution noted.
Further, the forensic evidence concluded that Garner was the only person to ever fire a shot.
[T]his is in no way a self-defense case … it was closely analyzed and if it were a case of self-defense—charges [against Garner] would have never been brought,” said deputy commonwealth’s attorney Matthew B. Lowery.
Judge Stephen E. Sincavage told Garner he agrees with the prosecution’s argument that his actions do not qualify as self-defense. “Although you believed you were protecting your family, it does not give you an open page to do whatever you want … it put a lot of people in danger,” said Sincavage noting that it was “a very public area.”
For three counts of malicious wounding and one count of reckless handling of a firearm, Garner received an active sentence of 6 years and 3 months.
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