An Everett man who fired random shots into homes could spend more than seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to seven counts of drive-by shooting.
Byron August Ross, 18, stood before a Snohomish County Superior Court judge and admitted seven times that he fired the shots from a car. In two cases, bullets narrowly missed people in their homes.
Deputy prosecutor Paul Stern and defense lawyer Pete Mazzone agreed to recommend the 87-month prison term, the low end of the sentencing range. In exchange, Ross agreed to testify against anybody else charged in the crime.
A second person, Colby Rider, 17, also of Everett, remains charged with one count of drive-by shooting and being a juvenile in possession of a firearm. Rider is charged as an adult.
A third person, a 39-year-old woman, was arrested briefly in connection with the shootings but has not been charged. She bailed out of jail and has not appeared in court.
"It is our belief more than two people were involved in these crimes," Stern said following a brief hearing before Judge Larry McKeeman. "It is our intent to hold all the participants responsible."
The shootings happened on Nov. 3 and Dec. 8 when someone fired into homes, or, in one case, at a deer near a home.
On the earlier date, shots were fired in the 15000 block of High Bridge Road in Monroe and the 16000 block of Connelly Road in Snohomish. Also on Nov. 3, shots were fired in the 1900 block of Douglas Avenue and the 1900 block of 51st Avenue SE, both in Everett.
On Dec. 8, three homes in the 7400 block of E. Lowell-Larimer Road were hit.
In one case, a bullet went into an elderly woman’s kitchen, hitting her leg with wood debris. In another, a bullet passed 18 inches over the head of a sleeping child, court documents said.
A assault rifle and a .45-caliber pistol were used in the shootings, documents said.
Ross is scheduled to be sentenced June 17 by McKeeman.
On Tuesday, McKeeman carefully went through the rights Ross relinquished by pleading guilty. Court documents say he admitted recklessly firing a gun and risking serious injury to others.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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