Gun control- current event

More than 2½ years after his teenage son was slain in front of him, an Auburn man who starting shooting in that moment of rage will soon be headed home.

Gabriel Wilson’s crime – which he readily admitted to police following the shooting – was opening fire on a neighbor’s apartment he believed housed several young men who helped set in motion his 16-year-old son’s murder. The non-injury shooting occurred moments after his son was shot dead in front of him during a family barbeque in the apartment building courtyard.

Jailed through his son's funeral, Gabriel Wilson may be home by Christmas following a deal that saw him plead guilty to reduced charges in the May 22, 2011 shooting. Wilson was sentenced Wednesday to just more than two years in custody; the first-degree assault charge he had been facing likely would have seen him sent away for more than 15 years.

Speaking following Wilson's sentencing hearing Wednesday, Wilson’s attorney James Bible said his client, now 47, lived any parent’s nightmare before he was threatened with years in prison.

“Gabe Wilson is a loving father who experienced one of the most devastating moments that any human being could experience,” Bible said. “He actually saw his son shot and killed in front of his very eyes, and every action that he committed was a direct result over having seen his precious baby die. …

“He’s looking forward to that moment when the state can recognize, and does recognize, that he was a victim too.”

Bible also said the evidence in the case makes clear that several others – including two teens hiding in the apartment at which Wilson fired – helped to orchestrate the killing and hide evidence after Adrian Wilson was killed.

James Mills, the teen who pulled the trigger, was charged in the murder. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, offered an apology and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Responding to Wilson’s claims, King County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Dan Donohoe said Mills was the sole defendant who could be proved to have been involved in Adrian Wilson’s murder.

“There was not the evidence to support a charge against any other individual,” Donohoe said. “The person responsible for the murder is serving a prison sentence.”

Pleading guilty to reduced charges earlier this week, Wilson was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in custody for the shooting. 

The chaos began during a Wilson family barbeque in the courtyard of the Aspen Meadows Apartments. Wilson lived there with his sons; there was animosity between his family and another at the complex.

Adrian Wilson was slated to leave for Job Corps the day after the barbeque. His father prepped him for the federal work program, and hoped it would start him on a career in construction.

Instead, the teen was shot in the face by Mills, one of several young men at the scene who apparently had issues with the Wilsons. He died in front of his grandmother and many of his relations, including his father.