Teen accused in 2021 Park City shooting to serve 16 to 32 years in prison

LANCASTER, Pa. — Note: The video is from October 2021.

The teenager accused of a shooting that injured three people at Park City Mall in Lancaster will serve up to 32 years in prison following a sentencing hearing Tuesday afternoon in County Court. Lancaster, prosecutors said.

Jeremiahs Sanchez, now 19, pleaded guilty in February to more than 60 charges related to the Oct. 17, 2021, shooting. Three people were shot and a fourth was injured after being stomped on in the chaos that followed, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said.

Sanchez, of Lancaster, pleaded guilty openly to four counts of aggravated assault, receiving stolen property, carrying a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm fire by a minor and 52 counts of recklessly endangering another person. » prosecutors said.

Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Ponessa played video footage of the incident to begin the sentencing hearing and noted that the defendant's conduct left four victims injured.

One of the victims was a mother hit in the arm while protecting her young child and another an elderly victim who was trampled as people ran for cover.

Ponessa further said Sanchez, who was 16 at the time of the shooting, had previously been tried on three separate gun violence charges dating back to 2017.

“One Sunday afternoon at Park City Mall, the defendant had another loaded firearm stolen for no reason,” Ponessa said.

The defense attorney argued that Sanchez did not start the fight and that two of the victims approached him from behind inside the mall to start the incident.

“The defendant was the only one who brought an illegal firearm into the mall that day and he was the only one who opened fire,” Ponessa said. “It was when they were separated that he started shooting blindly.”

The defense pointed to Sanchez's unfavorable childhood upbringing and prior “shootout” incidents in his home as reasons the defendant was afraid, but Ponessa pointed to limited cooperation with police when it came to to investigate these crimes.

“There is an inescapable fact here,” Judge Dennis Reinaker said before imposing the sentence and after Sanchez and two witnesses spoke in favor of the defendant. “The other two (involved in the fight) did not have weapons. (Sanchez) was the only one who brought a gun into the mall that day.

Reinaker continued that the event had “a somewhat terroristic effect on this entire community” and that he considered his sentence taking into account that the defendant was very young when he committed a very serious offense.

Sanchez was walking inside Park City Mall on the afternoon of Sunday, October 17, 2021, in possession of a loaded firearm that was later reported stolen. He was qualified as a person not to possess a firearm due to prior juvenile convictions.

Sanchez was approached by Elijah Deliz, 18, and Sergio Vargas, 30, inside the mall. A physical altercation between the three men ensued and Sanchez fired one shot that hit Deliz in the leg and another that hit an uninvolved 30-year-old civilian in the arm. The civilian was with her 5-year-old child.

Deliz and Vargas were also charged in connection with the incident, prosecutors said.

Vargas then pulled Sanchez to the ground and another shot was fired that hit Vargas in the hand.

An innocent bystander legally possessing a firearm shot Sanchez three times in defense of himself and others, told Sanchez to stop moving, and removed the firearm Sanchez possessed from the situation.

The bystander was cleared of any criminal charges by Lancaster County Prosecutor Heather Adams.

A mass exodus from the mall following the shooting caused an elderly woman to fall and be trampled, resulting in a broken elbow, aspiration of the lung and admission to a personal care facility.

There were 52 people, including young children, nearby when the shooting took place, according to prosecutors.

Former Lancaster City Police Bureau Detective, now Lancaster County Detective, Stanley Roache filed the charges and attended the sentencing proceeding.