Plea deal reached with teen charged with firing 56 rounds, damaging Erie church in February

An Erie teenager accused of firing 56 gunshots at two other juveniles on the afternoon of Feb. 20, injuring no one but damaging a Catholic church on the city's east side, won't face attempted homicide charges under a plea deal reached at his preliminary hearing on Friday.

Deangelo Troop Jr., 16, waived his criminal case to court under an agreement in which he would plead guilty at a later date to three charges: a first-degree felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon enhancement, a third-degree felony count of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, and a third-degree felony count of carrying a firearm without a license, according to Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Lightner.

The agreement would lead to the dropping of two first-degree felony counts of attempted homicide and a second felony count of aggravated assault, if Troop follows through with the deal.

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The agreement was reached between Lightner and Troop's lawyer, Eric Hackwelder, prior to the start of Troop's scheduled preliminary hearing before Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro on Friday morning.

Troop remains in the Erie County Prison on a $250,000 bond. Troop was moved to the prison from the Edmund L. Thomas Adolescent Center following a hearing in April.

Teen in Erie shooting stay at prisonAt 16 years old, Deangelo Troop Jr. was hoping his age would help get him transferred from the Erie County Prison

The shooting

Troop is one of several juveniles charged by Erie police in recent months with committing shootings that killed or injured people or damaged property in the city. Others include a 14-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, who is accused of shooting another student inside Erie High School on April 5; Sincere D. Dorsey, 17, who was held for court April 29 on charges including attempted homicide in the shooting of a 15-year-old girl on March 12; and Abdullah O. Ismael, 17, who is charged with criminal homicide and other offenses in the shooting death of 7-year-old Antonio "Espn" Yarger Jr. on April 14.

Erie police charged Troop as an adult following a shooting that occurred on the late afternoon of Feb. 20 in the area of East 22nd and Reed streets. Investigators said multiple gunshots were fired from a vehicle toward two juveniles, with some of the shots hitting Holy Trinity Catholic Church, at 2220 Reed St.

Church damaged in Erie shootingA man was wounded and a Catholic church was struck by gunfire in a pair of shootings on Erie's east side on Sunday

The damage to the church included a bullet hole in a stained-glass window, officials said in court on Friday.

Investigators said after the shooting that officers were given a description of a suspect and of the vehicle involved in the shooting, and police later located the vehicle, stopped it at East Fourth and Wallace streets and took the suspect into custody.

Troop was arraigned and jailed in the case on Feb. 21.

Interest of justice hearing

Troop was ordered held in the Erie County Prison following a hearing on April 5.

Under a new federal law, juveniles charged as adults must go to juvenile detention rather than prison. But the law allows a judge to move a juvenile to an adult facility.

Erie County prosecutors sought to have Troop moved from Edmund L. Thomas to the Erie County Prison, stating at the April hearing that Troop fired a 9 mm handgun at the other juveniles 56 times on Feb. 20, based on the number of shell casings police found spread over three blocks.

Lawyer Charbel Latouf, who represented Troop at the hearing, stated that the suspect wasn't Troop, but was someone who looks like him.

Erie County Judge John J. Mead granted the prosecution's transfer request following the hearing.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.