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Man admits shooting car with kids inside — receives no jail or prison

Ramsey County prosecutors offered Jacob Gunn probation in a plea deal, and the judge sentenced him even more leniently than the agreement called for.

ST PAUL, Minn. — Last August, a St. Paul woman was driving near York Avenue and Frank Street with her boyfriend and their two children — ages 1 and 4 — when they heard gunshots.

It was someone in another car shooting at them.  

Three bullets hit their red Denali on the driver's side door, rear passenger door and back of the vehicle.

The woman called 911 as she raced away from the car, trying to lose it in traffic, and police quickly stopped the other driver near the East Team Police Station.

Inside the car, St. Paul Police found a live round, a magazine in the door and a gun with another extended magazine. The .40-caliber rounds matched the spent cartridge casings in the intersection where the shots were fired. 

Police arrested 19-year-old Jacob Gunn, and the Ramsey County Attorney charged him with drive-by shooting and assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to St. Paul Police reports, they found Gunn's DNA on a spent shell, further tying him to the crime.

Fast-forward nearly a year, Gunn pleaded guilty in Ramsey County Court in a plea agreement that will keep him out of prison and out of jail. Prosecutors offered him probation. 

And now, several people aware of the case are asking, "Why?"

A Ramsey County Attorney's Office spokesman in a statement said in part that the victim's boyfriend — who was with her in the red Denali — died as they were preparing for trial. 

"Due to the lack of witnesses, we reached an agreement with Mr. Gunn to secure a plea of guilty to Count 2, with a stay of execution — a felony conviction and probation without prison time," the statement reads.

And when it came time to being sentenced last Friday, Judge Joy Bartscher went even more lenient than plea agreement called for.

According to the sentencing order, Gunn will serve 120 days of house arrest with work release. Judge Bartscher gave him a stay of imposition for his sentence, which means if he successfully completes four years of probation, his felony assault with a deadly weapon for shooting a car with kids inside will be reduced to a misdemeanor.

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