Victim's letter doesn't spare shooter from prison time

12/28/2006

In a letter to the court, Myshionna Agnes said she believed her stepfather when he apologized for shooting the bullet that scarred her leg.

But the 12-year-old's words did not have much of an impact on Mychal Keahey's fate. He was sentenced yesterday to 17 years in prison for shooting into a crowded home where a child's birthday party was being held.

Keahey, 21, was charged in Lucas County Common Pleas Court with shooting a 24-year-old woman in the thigh and his young stepdaughter in the leg at a party where he got into a fight with another man.

A jury found him guilty Dec. 13 of three counts of felonious assault and one count of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation.

"He completely disregards every human being at that location," Assistant County Prosecutor Jim Vail argued before the sentence was handed down. "The only one he had thought for was himself because he was shown up at a birthday party."

Mr. Vail said Keahey arrived on Sept. 23 for a birthday party on East Weber Street where his wife, young son, and four stepchildren were. Also there was Myron Agnes, the father of his four stepchildren.

A fight broke out between Mr. Agnes and Keahey, and Keahey left. He returned later with a gun and shot into the house.

"It's abhorrent to me to come back and shoot at anyone, but we're talking about at least eight or nine of these people are children, one of whom got shot," Mr. Vail said.

Keahey did not speak before his sentencing. His attorney, George Evans, said Keahey did not intend to harm anyone in the house.

In a letter Mr. Vail read in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to visiting Judge Ronald Bowman, the 12-year-old victim said she thought Keahey "should not go to jail."

"I feel his apology is good enough, and I feel he didn't mean to hurt me," Mr. Vail read. The young girl did not speak in court and did not comment after the sentence.

Keahey's family, including his mother and wife, watched the sentencing. His mother, Vivian Keahey, experienced chest pains after hearing her son's sentence and was treated by paramedics outside the courtroom. The women declined comment.

Judge Bowman said though he doesn't think Keahey is a bad person, he does believe he is a violent one. Noting the 20 criminal convictions in Keahey's past, many from when he was a juvenile, Judge Bowman said it was sad that the young man had had so many encounters with law enforcement.

"If there is anything good about this event, it's that the wounds to these two young people were not fatal wounds," he said. "Every time a weapon is fired, it's fired for a purpose."

Contact Erica Blake at:

eblake@theblade.com

or 419-724-6076.