8 years in prison for man whose gunshot struck Minneapolis girl moments into New Year’s Day

A 45-year-old man received a prison term Tuesday topping eight years for squeezing off automatic gunfire moments into New Year’s Day in Minneapolis that ricocheted and struck a girl in the face while she was looking out her second-story bedroom window.

James William Turner of Fridley was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition in connection with the shooting of Laneria Wilson, 11, on Jan. 1 near 23rd and Bryant avenues N.

With federal sentencing guidelines recommending a sentence of anywhere from 8⅓ to nearly 10½ years in prison, Judge Ann Montgomery opted for the lowest point in that range and added three years of court supervision after his release.

Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors pointed out to Montgomery that “instead of celebrating New Year’s with her friends or family, [Laneria] spent the evening having bullet fragments removed from her face. The victim could easily have been killed. Moreover, the bullet that struck the 11-year-old appears to be one of 24 shots Turner fired that night — 24 bullets that could have injured or killed innocent people.”

Prosecutors also noted that Turner’s criminal history spans his entire adult life and includes convictions for second-degree assault in Anoka County and domestic assault in Ramsey County. Those convictions barred him from possessing guns or ammunition.

Defense attorney F. Clayton Tyler asked that Turner receive a five-year term, arguing that he has abstained from illicit drugs and alcohol since his arrest and has completed mental health therapy.

Also, Tyler added, while Turner admitted to firing the automatic rifle, “he did not do so maliciously or with intent to hurt or frighten anyone. On the contrary, he considered himself close friends with the child’s mother and had previously babysat the child.”

Laneria’s mother, Shenedra Ross, told the Star Tribune in May that since the shooting, she moved her family about two hours west of Minneapolis, where they had lived previously. In the days after being shot, just shy of her 12th birthday, Ross said, Laneria had difficulty coping and was afraid to be near windows.

According to court documents:

Police officers arrived at the scene, where Ross told them her daughter heard gunfire, went to the window and was hit in the face by one of the rounds.

The mother added that Laneria “heard gunshots ... and yelled to her children upstairs to get away from the windows, but [the girl] has already been struck with a shot,” the criminal complaint read.

Officers found a two-minute Snapchat video recording of Turner moments before the gunfire. He was recorded outside near the girl’s home speaking angrily to the camera before he panned his phone to show an AR-style rifle across the driver’s seat of a vehicle.

“Turner repeatedly fired ... into the ground while standing on the corner,” his guilty plea filing read. Officers found eight live cartridges and 24 discharged cartridge casings throughout the boulevard, sidewalk and yard.