CLEVELAND — A man accused of shooting a Shaker Heights gas station clerk earlier this year has agreed to plead guilty in the case.
According to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court filings, 31-year-old William McLendon reached a deal Friday that saw him plead guilty to a second-degree felony charge of felonious assault. As part of the agreement, prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of attempted murder, as well as a second felonious assault charge and a one-year prison sentence enhancement due to his use of a firearm.
Authorities said McLendon and the 34-year-old clerk got into a fight at the 7-Eleven on Chagrin Boulevard on the morning of Feb. 20 after McLendon pulled out a gun during an argument. McLendon fired 16 shots and hit the victim with eight bullets before fleeing, but he eventually surrendered to police. The clerk survived.
McLendon, who had no prior criminal record that we know of, has been held in the Cuyahoga County Jail since the shooting on a $500,000 bond that was later reduced to $100,000. With prosecutors maintaining an additional three-year firearm enhancement on the remaining charge, he faces up to 11 years in prison, with sentencing set for Oct. 23.
