Rio Jones, a 19-year-old resident of Toxteth, Liverpool, the United Kingdom has been jailed for life over an “outrageous” gangland shooting in which a 15-year-old girl got hit with a bullet in the neck on March 2022.
The victim was waiting for a bus home from school when Rio Jones pulled the trigger at a rival as they sped through the streets of Liverpool on electric bikes, the UK Guardian reports on Tuesday.
The girl, whose identity has been concealed was said to have suffered three fractured vertebrae and lung damage and continues to recover from her injuries.
According to police reports, the tragic incident happened on March 1 around 5 pm added that it was “an absolute miracle” she had survived the shooting.
Jones was handed life in jail and also ordered to serve a minimum of 16 and a half years after being convicted of attempted murder, wounding and firearms possession.
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The UK Guardian said the honorary recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary QC, described the shooting as a “planned and determined effort to kill a rival” and that his actions were “outrageous.”
A trial was heard on how the shooting unravelled in broad daylight that fateful day when Jones spotted his rival, Shakur Watson, and gave him a chase which led to the shooting.
As he drew level with Watson, Jones pulled a gun from his pocket and discharged six shots at close range, Liverpool crown court was told.
One bullet hit his intended target, fracturing a bone in his wrist, but another struck a 15-year-old girl who had been sitting down at a bus stop with her friend, aged 14 at that time.
The bullet hit the teenager at the right-hand side of the back of her neck and exited through her chest.
She was rushed to Alder Hey children’s hospital for life-saving treatment and was later discharged. Police said it was “an absolute miracle – and credit to the NHS – that this young woman has survived.”
