KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man connected to a shootout that injured two people following a high school basketball game at North Kansas City High School on March 2, 2024, was sentenced to 18 years in prison Friday.
Michael Smallwood pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of fourth-degree assault back in March.
Smallwood will serve six years for the first count of second-degree assault, seven years for the second count of second-degree assault, four years on the unlawful use of a weapon charge and one year on the charge of fourth-degree assault.
The sentences are set to be served consecutively.
While the prosecutors said they plan to ask the judge for a 19-year prison sentence for Smallwood in the plea agreement entered in March, the agreement allowed Smallwood and his attorneys to argue for a lesser sentence.
“I was fired at and I shot back, understanding that it was reckless for me to do that in a crowd of people,” Michael Smallwood wrote in the plea agreement.
Michael and his younger brother, Lavon’Dre Smallwood, were both originally charged with armed criminal action and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon in connection with the shootout.
Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said the shooting started after a dispute between two groups of young men who were leaving a Missouri Class 6, District 8 basketball game between Staley and North Kansas City.
KSHB 41 I-Team's Caitlin Knute obtained surveillance video of the shootout. You can watch her report below.
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