LISBON — An East Liverpool man who shot another man in the parking lot following a fight at a city bar was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday.

DaNeil U. Prentice, 29, Beaver Street, previously pleaded guilty to felonious assault, a second degree felony, for shooting Joseph Desarro in the lower back near his hip on April 20, 2019.

The crime carried a possible maximum sentence of eight to 12 years. Assistant County Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones was asking for a two-year sentence.

Desarro’s mother spoke at length prior to sentencing, telling Judge Scott Washam about the night she received the call from her son’s wife telling her to come to the hospital because he had been shot.

“I remember saying, please tell me he is alive,” Diana Desarro said.

At times she struggled to maintain her composure as she told Washam her son and his wife had been expecting their first child together and he had been working at getting his life straightened out for his family. According to Desarro, her son was unarmed and had tried to leave after the fight in the bathroom at Chris’ Hideaway Bar on Penn Avenue.

But she said Prentice went and got a gun, opening fire despite about 12 people in the parking lot and without regard of the people driving by and the houses nearby. As Desarro tried to run away, he was shot from behind. She explained her son’s surgeries and physical therapy, the bullet that cannot be removed and his struggles with post traumatic stress disorder after being shot.

Prentice’s defense attorney, Michael J. Goldberg, said he could not imagine getting the horrible call Desarro got, but he said the incident between Prentice and Desarro “did not happen in a vacuum.”

He pointed out when investigators came to the bar Desarro was sitting at the bar and did not even report he had been shot. He then reportedly would not cooperate by saying who did it.

Tamika Williams, Prentice’s mother also spoke before Judge Washam, noting her son has made choices she knows he is not proud of and she is not proud of as his parent either. She noted he has made some snap decisions. But she felt what happened that night has left her son more focused about his life.

“He doesn’t want to be known as a black man who is a thug,” she said. “He wants to be a black man who is an entrepreneur.”

Prior to being sentenced, Prentice apologized to the Desarro family and said he hoped some day they can forgive him. He also tried to explain why the fight that occured by stating Desarro and one of Prentice’s friends were doing drugs in the bathroom, which upset him.

While Washam agreed it sounded like there was some provocation for Prentice’s reaction, he also talked about how life-altering his reaction had been. Washam sentenced Prentice to a minimum of two years and a maximum of three.

“I hope you all keep track of me and look for me in a couple of years because I’m going to do some good things,” Prentice said before he was taken into custody.

Goldberg also suggested Washam put a note into the sentencing paperwork suggesting Prentice should not be housed at the same prison as Desarro, who is currently nearing the end of a 20-month sentence at the state prison in Lorain for drug trafficking, tampering with evidence and possession of drugs.

djohnson@mojonews.com