Guilty plea in Jackson shooting

A Jackson 16-year-old admitted Tuesday to shooting a fellow teen three times when he pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree assault.

In exchange for Jonathan D. McClard's plea, the state dropped the additional charge of armed criminal action.

The state previously certified McClard as an adult when charging him with the July 10 shooting of Jeremy Voshage, 17, at the Shawnee Square Car Wash in Jackson.

The two teens became embroiled in a love triangle conflict over a girl that reached a boiling point when McClard called Voshage on the phone and asked him to show up at the four-bay car wash around 6:30 p.m. July 10, according to the facts of the case stated by Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle at a hearing at the Mississippi County Courthouse.

McClard arrived at the car wash ahead of the other teen, where he lay in wait for Voshage to get there, Swingle said.

Voshage emptied his pockets and left his cell phone behind, thinking he was going to a fistfight, Swingle said after the hearing.

When Voshage arrived at the scene of his meeting with McClard, his romantic rival shot him three times with a .22-caliber rifle he'd carried concealed in a guitar case, reloading after each round. Voshage was shot once in the midsection, once in the groin and once in the foot, Swingle said.

McClard then left Voshage lying on the ground and walked across East Jackson Boulevard to stash the firearm. Surveillance photos show McClard buying a soda from a vending machine after the shooting, empty guitar case on his back.

When Jackson police arrived and Voshage was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center for treatment, McClard walked up to the officers and said "I'm the one who shot him," Swingle said.

When Judge David Dolan asked McClard if he agreed with the facts stated by Swingle, the teen, his blond hair freshly shaven, simply nodded and said, "I shot Jeremy."

Though McClard could face a sentence of up to 30 years or life in prison for the assault charge, Patrick M. McMenamin, his attorney, asked the court to consider dual jurisdiction as an option for the 16-year-old.

With that option, McClard would go to a 40-bed secure facility in Montgomery City, Mo. There, he would receive counseling, academic education and vocational training, instead of the Department of Corrections, until Jan. 1, when he turns 17. At that point, he will be re-evaluated to see if the Division of Youth Services believes he can still benefit from rehabilitative counseling, McMenamin said.

McClard would still have to serve the entire term of an adult sentence, which could be executed at any time the judge and the division thought suitable.

"There are extenuating circumstances going to his state of mind that we believe warrant the judge to at least consider the dual jurisdiction," McMenamin said.

Had he started school this year instead of having spent the past three months incarcerated, McClard would be in 11th grade at Jackson High School. He is being held at the Mississippi County Jail, where McMenamin said "it's been hard." McClard has already been beaten once by other inmates, McMenamin said.

Swingle said the state intends to ask for the maximum penalty because dual jurisdiction would not be an appropriate punishment for the seriousness of the offense.

The victim's family believes that the maximum sentence should be imposed, said Ron Oberman, stepfather of Voshage.

"I hope the judge realizes that Jeremy has a life sentence," said Karen Oberman, Voshage's mother.

The shooting left the 17-year-old Jackson teen paralyzed from the waist down, confined to a wheelchair.

Though the families of McClard and Voshage sat in opposite corners of the courtroom during the hearing, the mothers of victim and defendant exchanged a tearful hug as they left.

McMenamin said the two woman have been in contact with one another during the course of the ordeal.

Sentencing for McClard will be Nov. 13.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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