James McCauley, now 18, was 17 years old when he shot a classmate in the face during what’s been described as a botched drug deal in February 2019, on Glen Gary Drive and Rose Tree Lane.
The more serious, initial charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault were eventually dropped when McCauley pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and other charges stemming from having a stolen handgun.
McCauley’s lawyer, Charles Peruto, argued from the start that the boy who was shot had set McCauley up and planned to rob him.
“The judge understood maybe the shooting victim caused some of the problems himself with the robbery, but that doesn’t justify the defendant bringing a gun to a drug sale,” Peruto said.
Peruto conceded McCauley knew the gun was stolen.
Witnesses in the car testified at earlier hearings that the two people who were supposed to buy the drugs randomly started beating someone in the backseat.
Peruto has said McCauley fired the gun because someone was choking him from behind.