Man sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatal shooting of 8-year-old at Alabama mall

Lina PortmanJune 5, 2024

1 1 minute read

ED BLACKWELL WAS SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON. MAN Pleading Guilty to Reckless Murder After Child Shot at GALLERIA Mall TWO YEARS AGO. MONTEZ COLEMAN WAS ORIGINALLY CHARGED WITH CAPITAL MURDER IN THE DEATH OF ROY GILES. COURT RECORDS SHOW HE WAS SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS

Birmingham man sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatal shooting of 8-year-old at Riverchase Galleria

One of the suspects in the 2020 shooting that left an 8-year-old boy dead and three others injured at Hoover's Riverchase Galleria has been sentenced to decades in prison. Originally charged with capital murder, Montez Coleman, 26, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a reduced charge of reckless murder and two counts of second-degree assault, according to court documents. Police say on July 5, 2020, an argument broke out between a group of men near the Galleria food court, during which Coleman and two others exchanged gunfire. Royta Giles Jr., a third-grader at Jonesboro Elementary School, was killed in the shooting. He and the three other struck victims are considered innocent bystanders. As part of his plea deal, Coleman was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Two others arrested in the shooting, King Williams and Demetrius Jackson Jr., 23, remain awaiting trial.

HOOVER, Ala. –

One of the suspects in the 2020 shooting that left an 8-year-old boy dead and three others injured at Hoover's Riverchase Galleria has been sentenced to decades in prison.

Originally charged with capital murder, Montez Coleman, 26, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a reduced charge of reckless murder and two counts of second-degree assault, according to court documents.

Police say on July 5, 2020, an argument broke out between a group of men near the Galleria food court, during which Coleman and two others exchanged gunfire.

Royta Giles Jr., a third-grader at Jonesboro Elementary School, was killed in the shooting. He and the three other struck victims are considered innocent bystanders.

As part of his plea deal, Coleman was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Two others arrested in the shooting, King Williams and Demetrius Jackson Jr., 23, are still awaiting trial.