Teen sentenced to 7 years for role in 2008 shooting

NORFOLK

The shooting left Brandon Brown unable to leave the house, go to the bathroom or open a jar without help.

His paralysis keeps him in a wheelchair. He will never walk again and has only limited use of his arms and hands.

Kiara Ratcliff, 17, may not have pulled the trigger that sent a bullet into Brown's back on June 10, 2008, argued prosecutor Asha Pandya, but she promised that she and her friends would hurt him. For that, Pandya said, Ratcliff should serve time in prison.

"She's responsible for paralyzing someone who was a friend to her," Pandya said Tuesday.

A judge on Tuesday sentenced Ratcliff to seven years in prison for her role in the shooting, with an additional 18 years suspended.

Ratcliff and two men were accused of shooting into a house filled with people, including children and a pregnant woman. The two men, D'Angelo Daggs and Brandon Daniels, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated malicious wounding and other charges and are scheduled to be sentenced next month.

A jury convicted Ratcliff in March of aggravated malicious wounding and conspiracy. Because she was 16 and a juvenile at the time of the crime, substitute Judge Joseph Leafe sentenced her with no recommendation from a jury.

Ratcliff's lawyer, Kevin Dia-monstein, argued that his client should be sentenced to time in the juvenile justice system rather than prison.

Before he announced the sentence, Leafe told Ratcliff that he believed she had been an integral part of the crime. He said Ratcliff had refused to take any responsibility for her actions that day. Leafe also told her she will still be young when released.

"Whether you make something of your life and put this behind you is up to you," Leafe said. "This young man is going to sit in that chair for the rest of his life."