Getaway driver asks judge for ‘second chance’ for Fresno shooting that injured girl, 10
A 20-year-old Fresno man was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for his role in the April 6 shooting that seriously injured a 10-year-old girl at a northeast Fresno apartment complex.
Kai Domingo-McPeters, the suspected getaway driver in the shooting, became emotional after Judge Samuel Dalesandro ordered he be sent to prison.
Domingo-McPeters spoke briefly during the hearing, offering an apology to the community and asking the judge for leniency. “If you give me a second chance, I promise I will do better sir,” the defendant said.
Domingo-McPeter’s attorney Eric Schweitzer had earlier pleaded with the judge to grant his client probation. Schweitzer argued that Domingo-McPeters has no criminal record, was not the shooter and may not have known what was going to happen.
The defendant’s mother, Olga Domingo was adamant that her son was not in a gang.
“He just met the wrong people at the wrong time,” she said.
Police said the shooting happened at about 7:30 p.m. in the playground of The Park West Apartments, located south of the intersection of Marks and Shaw avenues. The girl, who was not the intended target, girl was in the area when an argument broke out between two people at the apartment complex.
At least one suspect began shooting as people scattered, police said. The little girl was shot in the leg and was taken by family members to Community Regional Medical Center where she underwent surgery.
Along with arresting Domingo-McPeters, police also arrested the suspected shooter, a 17-year-old who is facing charges in juvenile court.
Deputy District Attorney Ismail Aliyev acknowledged that the defendant does not have a criminal record, was not the shooter and was remorseful after his arrest.
Still, Aliyev said a video discovered by police shows Domingo-McPeters with members of a street gang in which it appears he is being initiated into the gang.
Schweitzer called the video an “artistic endeavor” that took place after the shooting.
Schweitzer also tried to urge the judge to drop the gang enhancement that adds five years to a sentence.
The judge did not agree. He sentenced the defendant to two years for pleading no contest to assault with a firearm and kept the gang enhancement.
“You knowingly facilitated a gang shooting and as a result of doing that a child was shot and that child almost died,” Dalesandro said.
No one from the victim’s family was present during the sentencing.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 3:59 PM.
