A Palm Coast man faces up to life in prison after he was convicted in a shooting that left one Bethune-Cookman University student paralyzed from the waist down and wounded another.
A jury convicted William Luther Phillips, 33, of attempted first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder July 10.
Phillips, who was also known as “Too Man,” was also convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Phillips had been convicted of grand theft of a motor vehicle in Flagler County in 2011.
Circuit Judge Kathryn Weston has set sentencing for Aug. 8.
The shooting happened early in the morning of March 18, 2023, after a fight at the Dive Bar, 308 Seabreeze Blvd. in Daytona Beach, according to the State Attorney’s Office and a charging affidavit.
Afterward, a group of four Bethune-Cookman University students returned to campus. Phillips’ group also went to the campus.
Phillips confronted the students and shot up their car, hitting Mhari Henry Allen, 21, and Aniecia Ayana Blake, 24, with bullets.
Blake recovered. And while Allen survived, he was left paralyzed from the waist down, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Witnesses identified Phillips as the shooter.
“Gun violence robbed one victim of their ability to walk and our other victim mercifully has fully recovered,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza stated in a release. “The defendant should spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
Daytona Beach Police investigated the case which was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney Kevin Sullivan.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast man convicted in shooting of 2 Bethune-Cookman University students
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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