GLOUCESTER, Va. (WAVY) – A teenager pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection to the shooting of a 14-year-old boy at a rural Gloucester park last year.
Dishon Robinson is one of two teens charged in this case.
Robinson pleaded guilty to malicious wounding, underage possession of a firearm and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
A 15-year-old suspect pleaded guilty earlier this month, and is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Deputies were called to Beaverdam Park on July 17 and found the 14-year-old victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He survived but his family says he is still recovering.
“We go day by day. We don’t go any farther than that,” said Lezlie Coppola, who is the victim’s grandmother.
Coppola says it has been stressful for their family and is something they’ll live with forever.
“Everytime Gage takes his shirt off, he’s reminded of everything that happened. No one deserves to be shot. I don’t care who you are. There’s no reason for the shooting and he will have a solemn reminder of the rest of his life no matter what,” she said.
Prosecutors say that the victim went with Robinson and Bautista to the park to buy marijuana.
That’s when Robinson and Bautista shot the victim more than a dozen times, according to prosecutors.
The victim told the deputy, who arrived on scene, and a woman, who called 911, that the two suspects had committed the shooting.
Once in custody, Robinson confessed to law enforcement but told them he did it because the victim had threatened him and it was a “kill or be killed” situation, according to prosecutors.
Coppola says it’s a shame that so many lives will be affected by the shooting.
“I feel bad for these young men that chose this path because I realize Gage is going to live with these scars and everything for the rest of his life but unfortunately these young men have chosen a path that is going to dictate their life for the rest of their lives and it’s a shame. It really is a shame,” she said.
Bautista and Robinson will be back in court in June. A judge will sentence them.
The two could face up to 20 years for malicious wounding, a mandatory three year sentence for use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and 12 months plus a fine for underage possession of a firearm.
Although the sentencing is still months away, Coppola says her family has already started a new chapter in their lives because Gage lived.
She says he flatlined when he was being airlifted to the hospital and saw Jesus before coming back to life.
Doctors diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma after the shooting and he finished treatment in December.
“We knew there was a higher purpose. This was just the tragedy that brings special things about. That’s how we’re looking at it. Gage has a higher purpose. We don’t have to understand it but Gage does. Jesus doesn’t send everyone back and he chose to send him back. We’re grateful for that,” she said.