‘She will never walk again’: Life sentence for Gladstone shooting that paralyzed woman
A Clay County judge sentenced a 45-year-old man to life in prison for a Northland shooting in 2020 that left the mother of the man’s newborn baby paralyzed, prosecutors said.
In January, a jury found Lonnell James, of Kansas City, guilty of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and first-degree burglary charges in the shooting of the woman in Gladstone. Prosecutors said the woman, his ex-girlfriend, was shot while she was sitting on her bed with their infant child.
James received a sentence of life in prison plus 20 additional years on Thursday, prosecutors said.
In an impact statement to the court, the woman’s father said, “She still has bullets in her. This crime will affect her till she can walk ... and she will never walk again.”
“This life sentence ensures that this defendant who committed senseless acts of violence in Clay County will never be able to do so again,” Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said in a statement.
The Star’s Bill Lukitsch contributed reporting to this story.
