A California man who was behind the wheel as his friend fatally shot a sleeping homeless grandmother with a pellet gun while they went “hobo hunting” sobbed as he learned his fate Friday.
Ryan Hopkins, 19, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting assault with a deadly weapon for driving his friend William Innes, who shot 68-year-old Annette Pershal while she slept outside a coffee shop in May, NBC San Diego reported.
“I want to take a second to say I’m sorry to all you guys and the pain you have to go through,” a tearful Hopkins told Pershal’s family in the courtroom. “I’m sorry we’re all here today.”
Hopkins received a suspended three-year prison term, which could be imposed if he violates his terms of probation after serving six months in jail.
Hopkins’ defense attorney told the court Innes shot Pershal with the pellet gun while his client was trying to connect to the car’s Bluetooth, hearing his friend say, “Watch this” before opening fire on the sleeping grandmother.
“Shooting at someone who is sleeping on the ground in a helpless, vulnerable state?” Hopkins attorney Vikas Bajaj asked the court, adding his accomplice’s actions were “disgusting.”
Bajaj said Hopkins didn’t know Innes’ intentions when he got in the car, despite the alleged shooter texting in a group chat that included his client, he was going “hobo hunting,” according to the outlet.
The prosecution said Hopkins pleading guilty meant he was well aware of the damage he caused.
“He drove himself and his codefendant across the street, stopped right before Ms. Pershal who was shot, suffering, and they watched 15 to 20 seconds to see if they hit their target,” the prosecution argued.
Pershal’s daughter Brandy Nazworth said her mother was a beloved figure in the neighborhood, with many residents referring to her as “Granny Annie.”
“To find out someone had shot her with a pellet gun … you don’t even treat animals like that,” Nazworth told the Union-Tribune. “She was a person, not just a thing to be used for target practice.”
Officers found an unconscious Pershal in the early morning of May 8 after being shot six to eight times with the pellet gun.
The grandmother was struck in the head, leg, and torso with pellets.
One pellet ended up rupturing her aorta.
Pershal was quickly rushed to the hospital with doctors calling her injuries “non-survivable,” according to authorities.
She was pronounced dead on May 11
Police arrested both Hopkins and Innes on Aug. 3.
“This was a callous, conscious disregard for life,” Deputy District Attorney Roza Egiazarian said in May.
Innes has been charged with first-degree murder and remains in custody without bail, according to NBC San Diego.
He is waiting for his trial readiness hearing later this month.
