Lamonte Brewer, 36, entered a guilty plea to federal firearm charges in connection with a shooting incident that occurred outside the home of former Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon in March 2023, reported local news outlets. According to court records, Brewer, who is prohibited from possessing firearms due to his status as a convicted felon, acknowledged his unlawful possession and use of a firearm during the shooting, which injured a teenager engaged in a "Nerf war" game in the vicinity of Mixon's residence. Brewer's guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person was reported by WLWT.
Described as Mixon's sister's boyfriend, Brewer is set to officially be sentenced on July 1 for his charges, with both parties having agreed to propose a five-year prison term. However, Brewer still faces additional criminal charges in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, including felonious assault and evidence tampering, detailed by FOX19. This development comes after an alleged mistaking of the teenagers' Nerf toys for firearms, which reportedly prompted the shooting.
The conflict escalated when Shalonda Mixon, identified as Brewer's girlfriend and Mixon's sister, reported to Joe Mixon that she believed she heard armed individuals outside. Meanwhile, Melissa Powers, the former Hamilton County Prosecutor, stated, "these kids — these are all 16-year-old kids — they were all clearly using Nerf guns that do not look like a real weapon at all." The comment was part of the evidence considered in the case, as initially reported by WLWT. In response to the guilty plea, the family of the injured teen is pursuing a civil lawsuit against Brewer and Mixon, though Mixon himself has not been criminally charged in relation to the shooting.
After the incident, surveillance video allegedly captured Shalonda Mixon collecting shell casings from the scene, with the firearm being later discovered in the trunk of a car that she was driving. This information came to light in statements made by the former prosecutor and corroborated by an incident report stating that Hamilton County deputies stopped the vehicle leaving Joe's residence. Following her cooperation with the authorities, Shalonda was sentenced to community control on one count of obstructing justice after taking a plea deal with prosecutors, as noted in FOX19's coverage.
As the legal proceedings continue to unfold, it is expected that more details will emerge regarding the case and its associated lawsuits. The teen involved in the incident reportedly suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Brewer's admission of guilt comes at a critical juncture in a case that has to hold multiple lives temporarily in a state of suspension, awaiting the finality of judicial outcomes, implying a sobering reflection on gun violence and the ramifications of snap decisions in moments of perceived threat, Local12 reported.
