Man pleads guilty to charge in connection to drive-by shooting last summer in rural Waseca County

A man charged in connection to a drive-by shooting last summer in rural Waseca County entered a guilty plea in his case Thursday.

Devonte Bernard Phillips, 27-years-old, entered a change of plea to guilty on one count of 1st-degree assault, according to court records. The charges of first-degree attempted murder, drive-by shooting, and illegal gun possession were dismissed as part of the plea.

RELATED: 2 charged, man paralyzed after car shot 29 times in rural Waseca County

On July 26, 2022, Janesville police and Waseca County deputies were called to the area of Main Street and First Street, near Janesville Bank, just after 3 p.m. on reports of shots fired.

Law enforcement located a victim with a gunshot wound who said he couldn’t feel his legs. The man was airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

Phillips, along with his co-defendant, William Cornelius Terrel Peavy, were arrested a short time later after law enforcement located a vehicle matching the description of one seen leaving the scene of the shooting.

Peavy has already been sentenced in the case.

According to the criminal complaint, officers searched the vehicle they were in and found a knife and two handguns. Witnesses told police that Peavy and Phillips pulled up next to the victim’s vehicle, Phillips fired several shots toward the victim, and they then fled.

The complaint states that 29 separate bullet impacts were found in the victim’s vehicle.

The victim was found to have a bullet lodged in his thoracic vertebrae and is now a permanent paraplegic, according to the complaint.

Phillips is scheduled for sentencing on May 17, court records show. The petition to enter a guilty plea indicates there is an agreement of a sentence of just over 13 years.