Figure in shooting of former Ascension deputy sentenced to 15 years under plea deal – The Advocate

GONZALES One of three people accused in the 2015 shooting injury of an Ascension Parish sheriff's deputy has accepted a 15-year prison sentence and agreed to testify against her co-defendants, prosecutors said.

Sheriff's deputies have said Chadwik Schwender, 30, of Orlando, Florida, shot then-Deputy James Atkins in his hand Jan. 20, 2015, after he had pulled over a stolen car that Schwender was riding in.

Atkins had suspected Schwender and two others shoplifted bullets from the Walmart in Donaldsonville minutes earlier.

One of those people deputies say was in the car, Jennifer McGhee, 30, no address, pleaded guilty May 15 to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, 23rd Judicial District prosecutors said Tuesday.

At the time of the shooting, McGhee and a third defendant, John McMullen, 37, no address, were on the run from an attempted murder in Florida in which they are accused of tying up and beating a motel proprietor and setting the motel on fire to hide the evidence, according to court papers.

The proprietor survived, Ascension prosecutors have said.

McMullen and McGhee picked up Schwender later on their way west to Louisiana in a car stolen from the motel, prosecutors in Ascension have said in court papers.

As part of a plea deal with Assistant District Attorney Joni Buquoi, McGhee agreed to a 15-year prison sentence, agreed to testify about what happened in Donaldsonville on Jan. 20, 2015, but does not have to testify about what happened in Florida three days earlier. Prosecutors also dropped other pending charges against her, including an attempted first-degree murder count.

The cases against Schwender and McMullen are pending.

Follow David J. Mitchell on Twitter, @NewsieDave.

Read the original here:

Figure in shooting of former Ascension deputy sentenced to 15 years under plea deal - The Advocate