A Neenah teen pleaded no contest June 30 to charges in connection with a November 2024 shooting that injured two people at a Neenah apartment.
Anthony Hendricks, 18, pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree reckless injury and one count of maintaining a drug trafficking place, as party to a crime. Three other felony charges — aggravated battery, possession with intent to deliver THC, and an additional count of second-degree reckless injury — and one misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing an officer were dismissed.
Investigators say on the evening of Nov. 29, 2024, Hendricks, then 17 years old, fired a gun at an around-18-year-old man during an altercation at Hendricks’ family’s apartment, striking both the man and Hendricks’ 11-year-old brother.
A no contest plea means Hendricks accepts a guilty verdict without admitting or denying any guilt. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 8 in Winnebago County Circuit Court.
What are the details of the shooting?
The following information is from a criminal complaint and and testimony of investigators at Hendrick’s preliminary hearing in January:
Around 7:15 p.m. Nov. 29, police were dispatched to an apartment at 130 W. Bell St. in Neenah for reports of gunshots and a gunshot victim.
Outside, on the north side of the apartment building, officers found the around-18-year-old victim with multiple gunshot wounds to his leg area.
Inside the apartment where the shooting took place, officers found the injured 11-year-old.
Both gunshot victims were transported to ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah and received treatment for their injuries.
Through interviews and review of surveillance camera footage, investigators learned multiple people had been in and out of the apartment that evening, including multiple children.
In an interview from the hospital after the shooting, the around-18-year-old gunshot victim told investigators he got into an altercation in the apartment unit earlier in the day, with a 15-year-old boy who pulled an AR-style rifle on him.
Surveillance video showed the 15-year-old run out of the building before the shooting took place. A short time later, three males went to the apartment building and stood outside the locked exterior door. Audio from the external surveillance camera captured one of the males, identified as the older victim’s brother, asking someone inside the building who pulled a gun on his brother.
One of the other two males pulled out and racked a handgun, surveillance video and audio captured.
A neighbor let the three males into the building, and they were later let into the apartment unit by someone inside.
Surveillance camera did not capture what happened inside the apartment unit, but some time later, Hendricks’ mother, Elizabeth Johnson, was seen walking the three males out of the building, then returning inside. As the three males got into a vehicle and were driving out of the parking lot, the surveillance audio captured the sound of three gunshots.
The around-18-year-old gunshot told investigators he and others in the apartment wrestled a gun away from Hendricks, but then Hendricks retrieved another gun and shot him.
In police interviews from the hospital, both Hendricks and Johnson said Hendricks fired a gun after a group of people pointed guns at Johnson.
During a search of the apartment, investigators found between 4,000 and 4,500 grams of THC products, a Glock handgun inside a backpack, and a handgun under the mattress in a bedroom.
Hendricks and the 15-year-old were arrested Dec. 4, at a motel in Grand Chute. The 15-year-old had a handgun on him, and investigators located an AR-style rifle in their motel room.
Who else was charged, and where do their cases stand?
In February, Johnson — Hendricks’ mother — pleaded no contest to a felony count of maintaining a drug trafficking place, as party to a crime. She was sentenced to three years of probation.
Lamell Matthews, 18, of Appleton, is charged with harboring or aiding a felon in connection with the shooting. According to the criminal complaint, Matthews was seen on surveillance video leaving the apartment after the shooting while appearing to conceal something in a large blanket.
Days later, officers located a blanket matching the description of the one Matthews carried in a nearby yard, but did not find any evidence with it. When questioned about the blanket, Matthews told investigators he was moving drugs that belonged to him, not firearms.
Matthews has a plea and sentencing hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. July 10.
How much prison time could Hendricks face?
Although Hendricks was not yet an adult at the time of the shooting, 17-year-olds in Wisconsin are automatically charged as adults.
For second-degree reckless injury, Hendricks faces up to 7½ years in prison and five years of extended supervision. For maintaining a drug trafficking place, Hendricks faces a maximum of one year and six months in prison and up to two years of extended supervision.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Neenah teen convicted of reckless injury in apartment shooting