2019 Monroeville Mall shooter apologizes, sentenced to up to 5 years
A man who pleaded guilty last year to firing more than a dozen shots into a Monroeville Mall entrance during a fight told an Allegheny County judge on Thursday he regretted his actions and he would do whatever he could to turn his life around.
Brandon Noel, now 23, was sentenced to 2½ to 5 years in prison by Court of Common Pleas Judge David Cashman for the April 2019 shooting that stemmed from a fight between two rival groups from McKeesport.
“It was a stupid decision I made at that mall that day,” Noel told the judge in a virtual sentencing hearing.
The fight and the shooting led officials to evacuate the mall. Five other people were arrested and charged in connection with the fight.
Noel had previously pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault, and he said he takes responsibility for his actions. He called the past 20 months in the Allegheny County Jail the worst experience of his life, but also a learning experience.
“I never want to come back to this place,” he said. “I thank God no one was hurt or injured.”
His attorney, James Sheets, asked the judge to consider the fact that Noel was just 21 when he fired on the mall, as well as the fact he’d never faced charges before either as an adult or a juvenile.
“This incident clearly could have been far more tragic than what happened,” Sheets said. “(Noel) put countless lives in danger, and we acknowledge that.”
He said his client’s challenge now is to show his family, the community and the court system that “this was an aberration of who this man is otherwise.”
Deputy District Attorney Ilan Zur said that Noel will receive “a second chance at life no matter what sentence is imposed.
“But for pure luck, he’s not facing homicide charges,” Zur said, noting that the District Attorney’s Office was not asking for any specific sentence but would have no objection if the judge took mitigation factors — such as Noel’s decision to plead guilty — into account.
Cashman was unmoved, though he ultimately sentenced Noel to the range that Sheets had asked for. He did not, however, agree to Sheets’ request that Noel be held in the Allegheny County Jail during that time, instead sentencing him to state prison for the remainder of his sentence.
“I don’t care how old you are. I don’t care about the fact you have zero prior record,” Cashman said. “You demonstrated an intention to kill someone. It could have been people that you had some type of problem with or an innocent child who was at the Monroeville Mall with their parents.
“You’re very fortunate that you don’t bear that burden,” he said.
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