A group of young men in Arizona, all teenagers at the time, fired more than 20 bullets into a car full of children and fellow teens — including a 5-year-old boy who was killed — then picked up dinner and returned to the scene to film a video, which they used to “brag about the shooting,” according to prosecutors.
Alfred Gary, 18, Freddy Patterson, 18, and Charles Adams, 20, were sentenced this week for the deadly 2023 drive-by, which was allegedly gang-related, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. The trio was driving through Tempe when they came across a car carrying seven people and blasted away.
All three defendants pleaded guilty to several felony charges, including second-degree murder, drive-by shooting, conspiracy to commit drive-by shooting, and aggravated assault.
Gary was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while Patterson and Adams received 30-year sentences, according to the attorney’s office. Demarcus Frazier, 32, a fourth alleged shooter, still has his case pending and faces the death penalty.
“In March 2023, the defendants pulled up alongside a black Impala stopped at a red light near 48th Street and Broadway Road in Tempe,” the office stated Monday in a press release announcing the sentences.
“There were seven people in the other car, most of whom were children and teens,” according to the statement. “The defendants fired more than 20 rounds at the Impala, killing a 5-year-old boy. A seventeen-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl were injured.
The defendants then went to get dinner before returning to the crime scene to film a video that they used to brag about the shooting to other gang members.
According to prosecutors, Patterson and Adams are both documented members of a local Phoenix street gang, and they had “an issue” with a rival gang member who was allegedly riding in the Impala.
The pair was sentenced to an additional five years in prison for a separate drive-by shooting in Phoenix just two days before the Impala was targeted.
“In that incident, they shot into a car with a mother, her 3-year-old son, and 14-year-old daughter inside,” the attorney’s office stated. “No one was hurt.”
In a statement accompanying her office’s press release, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell condemned the young men’s actions and warned others not to repeat them.
“Those who act with no regard for human life have no place in our society,” Mr. Mitchell said. “My office will continue to work with law enforcement to rid our streets of illegal gang activity and put an end to the terror it brings to our community.”
