photo by: Dylan Lysen/Lawrence Journal-World

Michael A. Hormell, right, speaks to Judge Amy Hanley during a sentencing hearing in Douglas County District Court on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. His defense attorney, Shaye Downing, is pictured at left.

After hearing emotional comments from the defendant, his family and the victim’s family, a Douglas County District Court judge sentenced a Lawrence man to 18 years in prison for a 2018 shooting incident.

Judge Amy Hanley on Wednesday sentenced Michael A. Hormell, 21, for his conviction of aggravated robbery and attempted voluntary manslaughter at his April trial. He received 216 months for the aggravated robbery conviction and 32 months for the attempted voluntary manslaughter conviction; he will serve the sentences concurrently.

Hanley also credited Hormell with 1,191 days, or a little more than three years, of time already served while he has been in the custody of the Douglas County Jail.

Hanley said the main factor in her sentencing was Hormell’s use of a firearm. She said the conviction she was presiding over was Hormell’s second that included the use of a firearm. He was previously sentenced to 26 months for a conviction of criminal discharge of a gun at an occupied dwelling.

Hanley also noted that Hormell has two more pending cases that allege violent use of firearms.

“That is a pattern of gun violence,” Hanley said. “I do believe he is remorseful now … but he must be held accountable.”

The April conviction stemmed from a shooting that happened Jan. 26, 2018, at Parnell Park, 901 E. 15th St. Hormell was 18 at the time.

According to the police affidavit in the case, Hormell and his then-girlfriend, Ardyn D. Pannell, set up a drug buy with plans to rob the seller, another teen. However, the teen fought back and Hormell shot him in the chest. The teen was flown to an area hospital in critical condition and later stabilized, the Journal-World reported.

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Prior to sentencing, the mother of the victim in the case told the court that the victim’s family initially believed a shorter sentence would have been appropriate. She said this was because Hormell’s family came to them and expressed remorse for the incident.

However, she said she later learned that the expression of remorse was a lie, and she believed Hormell and his family think he was the victim in the matter and not her child who was shot.

“He needs to be protected from himself until he can respect the life of others,” she said.

Meanwhile, Alex Hormell, the defendant’s father, said a long sentence was inappropriate. He struggled with his emotions as he spoke and told the judge he was “broken” over the proceedings. He also said his son needed help dealing with past trauma and substance abuse rather than a prison sentence.

The defendant Hormell also told the court he was remorseful for his actions as he fought back tears to speak. He seemed to dispute the victim’s mother’s comments, but added that he was sorry.

“I don’t want to be like this,” Hormell said. “I don’t want to hurt nobody.”

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Along with his sentence on Wednesday, Hormell could face more prison time for other alleged crimes.

He currently has multiple pending cases, two of which were set to go to trial this summer but were canceled recently as he and his defense counsel were negotiating a “global” plea agreement with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office to resolve all of them at once.

In January 2020, Hormell was bound over for trial on a charge of criminal discharge of a firearm. A home in the 700 block of Arkansas Street was hit by gunfire that investigators believed to be from a shotgun on Jan. 6, 2018, and prosecutors allege that it was Hormell who fired the shots.

In February 2020, Hormell was released from the Douglas County Jail on a $100,000 surety bond, but he was arrested again in April 2020, this time on suspicion of armed robbery, the Journal-World reported. According to court records, he is charged with aggravated robbery and criminal possession of a firearm in that case.

Hanley told Hormell at a recent hearing if those cases do go to trial, they may not be scheduled until early 2022.

Hormell was also previously convicted and sentenced to time served in a separate case in which a jury on Aug. 26, 2019, found him guilty of firing into a home in the 400 block of North Street on Jan. 24, 2018. Five adults and two children were inside, but nobody was injured, the Journal-World reported.