A Hot Springs teen was sentenced to 15 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to shooting a 15-year-old girl in the leg in June 2021 during a confrontation with the girl's boyfriend on Autumn Street.
Luther Shaw, 17, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to first-degree battery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and was sentenced as an adult to 15 years for the June 20, 2021, shooting after his attorneys were unsuccessful at having the case transferred to juvenile court.
Deputy Prosecutor Caitlin Bornhoft said Wednesday that Shaw was charged as an adult at the time of his arrest on June 24, 2021, when he was "barely 16" and a juvenile transfer hearing was held at his attorney's request in October 2021.
At the hearing, "the judge ruled that it remain in circuit as an adult charge and the court of appeals affirmed it," she said.
According to the probable cause affidavit obtained Tuesday, on June 20, 2021, at around 11:13 p.m., Hot Springs police responded to the 300 block of Autumn Street regarding a shooting.
Officers made contact with a group of people who stated a juvenile female had been shot and taken by private vehicle to National Park Medical Center.
While at the scene, officers located several shell casings and found a pool of blood under the pavilion in the courtyard.
Detective Mark Fallis went to NPMC and spoke to the victim, 15, who stated her boyfriend had been having problems with another teen she knew as Luther Shaw. She said her boyfriend and Shaw had argued and Shaw told him he would shoot him and her when he saw them.
The victim said she was at the pavilion at around 11 p.m. that day, "hanging out" with her boyfriend and some other friends. She said Shaw approached them and started hitting her boyfriend.
Then Shaw pulled a black handgun from his waistband and began shooting at them, with one bullet striking the victim in the upper left thigh. She said everyone ran at that point and Luther fled the area.
The victim was later transferred to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock where she underwent surgery to "help repair her injuries," the affidavit said.
Bornhoft said Shaw, who turns 18 next month, admitted at his sentencing that he got into an altercation that day with another juvenile male at an outdoor pavilion area and the other male's girlfriend was with him.
He admitted he took out a gun and fired and struck the girlfriend and then he fled.
A warrant for Shaw's arrest was issued the day after the shooting and the case was filed under seal with a gag order issued to limit pretrial publicity.