A Virginia man convicted of shooting a police officer in 2017 when he was 15 years old will now spend 88 years in prison.
Wednesday’s decision comes after a three-day trial in September, where a jury found Will Patterson Jr. guilty on all 12 charges he faced:
- Attempted aggravated murder,
- Aggravated malicious wounding
- Malicious injury to a law enforcement officer
- 3 counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony
- 4 counts of shooting in public with bodily injury
- Carrying a concealed weapon
- Possession of a firearm by a minor
Patterson was sentenced to 160 years behind bars, but 54 of those years were suspended.
“It has been our only goal to fight to the best of our ability to provide justice for our victim and everyone who worked to save her life back in 2017. We have great respect for the court’s sentencing decision today and we are grateful for the jury’s service back in September. We are proud to have contributed to making Portsmouth a safer place for all,” Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Haille Hogfeldt and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Camden Freeman said in a statement.
In November 2017, Officer Angelina Baaklini White was in her patrol car when she spotted Patterson. She recognized Patterson as a runaway and tried to detain him.
That’s when Patterson reportedly pulled a gun from his waistband and started shooting.
Patterson was 15 years old at the time.
During the September trial, closing arguments from prosecutors with the office of Portsmouth’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales asserted that Patterson had fired upon Baaklini with intent, saying that someone could not fire six shots from a loaded weapon without intent.
Patterson’s attorneys argued back, saying that Patterson was more reactionary because of him not feeling safe and that he was trying to escape the situation.
“I applaud the bravery of the victim, who was harmed while serving our community, and I commend every witness and participant in this process who was impacted by the defendant’s malicious acts,” Morales said in a statement Wednesday. “I also applaud the efforts of my attorneys and the jurors who performed a vital service to our Portsmouth community this week. Our team works diligently to seek justice for victims of violent crime every single day and this week’s efforts by ACAs Hogfeldt and Freeman were no different.”
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