The man charged with shooting two people at a Gwinnett County Kroger store in 2014 will spend a decade in prison, officials said Tuesday.
Leevon Young pleaded guilty Monday to two counts apiece of aggravated battery and aggravated assault, as well as two other weapons charges, Chief Assistant District Attorney Dan Mayfield said in an email. Judge Debra Turner sentenced him to a total of 20 years, with the first 10 to be served in custody.
The shooting happened Feb. 10, 2014, at the Kroger at 455 Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville. According to prosecutors, Young arrived at the store around 11:15 a.m. and "stood with two other people in the shopping cart area for about an hour." As three strangers exited the store, he opened fire.
Two women were struck, and Young "ran upstairs into the manager's office where he fired another round" toward a room where an employee was hiding. The employee was not hit.
Young discarded his weapons and waited for authorities to arrive and take him into custody.
"Mr. Young claimed that he was defending himself and the two women with him," Mayfield said, "but there was no evidence that anyone ever threatened him."
The two women who were shot were "successfully treated for their injuries," Mayfield said.
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