Lynnwood man gets life in prison for shooting man, paralyzing him

EVERETT — A Lynnwood man was given life in prison Thursday for shooting a man in Everett last year, paralyzing him from the waist down.

On May 31, a jury found Antonial Monroe guilty of first-degree assault. The sentencing was delayed for months as Monroe’s defense attorney tried to have a previous conviction in Lewis County overturned. If successful, it would have changed the “offender score” for Monroe’s hearing on Thursday — reducing the amount of time the defendant faced.

Monroe had eight felony convictions. One of the most significant was a first-degree arson charge from when he was 17, defense attorney Donald Wackerman said. The defense attorney asked for a sentence of 25 years Thursday, while prosecutors asked for life in prison.

Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Appel said the difference in offender score didn’t matter, because the case didn’t involve a sentence within the typical range.

“You shot a man in the back, while he was fleeing,” Appel said. “I say this not because it is relevant to a sentence, because if this case were to come back for resentencing, it would be very hard for me to impose a low-end sentence.”

On the morning of Sept. 29, 2022, a man was hanging out at the intersection of Airport Road and Evergreen Way, when another man he knew as “Bush,” later identified as Monroe, approached him, according to the charges.

Monroe asked if the other man was interested in washing his Cadillac in exchange for fentanyl pills. The man agreed and got into the car, according to the charges. The two made different stops together, including at Lynnwood Municipal Court for a hearing, court documents say. While Monroe was in court, the other man allegedly stole a bag with hundreds of fentanyl pills, a handgun and a winning lottery ticket.

The man went to a friend’s apartment, the charges say. Monroe showed up there, too, with his girlfriend.

The man tried to leave the apartment, but Monroe confronted him with a gun, ordering him into his Cadillac, according to the charges.

Monroe tried to pistol-whip the man while inside the car, according to court papers. Monroe told the girlfriend to pull the car over. The other man tried to flee. Monroe shot him in the back. The gunshot hit the man in the spine, paralyzing his legs. Monroe shot him four more times in the leg and buttocks, according to court documents.

The man, now 32, is permanently paralyzed from the waist down, prosecutors wrote.

In October 2022, officers arrested Monroe for a stolen license plate on his Cadillac. Inside the car, police found a stolen pistol and a bag similar to the one that held the fentanyl pills, according to the charges. He was released from jail the next day.

The next month, officers arrested Monroe again, this time in connection to the shooting. He tried to flee and threatened to kill officers, but they shocked him with a stun gun.

Monroe was also charged with first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, third-degree assault of a police officer and harassment.

In the courtroom Thursday, a victim’s advocate read a letter the paralyzed man submitted to the court.

“Now that I am sitting here writing this, I feel the need to forgive,” the man wrote. “Not for him, but because if I don’t I’ll never move past this hurdle in my life.”

Monroe maintained his innocence in court Thursday.

“I’m sorry for what happened to that victim, but I still proclaim my innocence,” Monroe said. “I wasn’t the shooter.”

Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.