Appleway Trail shooter sentenced to 15 months behind bars

A 22-year-old man was sentenced to 15 months of incarceration last week for shooting a man three times in September on the Appleway Trail in Spokane Valley.

Dontrell Dale, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Anderson handed down the sentence Nov. 30, according to court documents.

The victim told police he was “jumped” by three people, including Dale, before Dale shot him in the forearm, chest and face with a 9 mm pistol.

The man who was shot told a detective he was walking east on the Appleway Trail when Dale, a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy approached him near Conklin Road. Documents state the 14-year-old threatened to kill the victim a week before over “pills.”

Dale claimed the shooting was in self-defense and the victim pointed a rifle at him first.

Court records indicate the sentence included the low end of the standard sentencing range, or three months, for the assault charge, plus a 12-month deadly weapon enhancement. Dale will be placed on community custody, or probation, when he is released from custody.