A Gaston man has been sentenced to 28 years after a 2022 shooting that left his ex-girlfriend paralyzed.

Parris D’Shawn Sutton, 27, pled guilty to attempted murder, for which he received a 23-year sentence, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, to which he received a five-year sentence, on Jan. 8.

On Sept. 17, 2022, Sutton went to an Edmund Highway residence at around 3 a.m. believing that his ex-girlfriend was there having relations with another man. Earlier that night over text, Sutton threatened to kill her, according to a release from the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office, and when he was at the Edmund Highway residence, he physically assaulted her and threatened to kill her, according to several witnesses.

“He was asked to leave the residence by the homeowner, who was a female friend of the victim, but returned shortly thereafter under the pretense of needing to charge his phone,” the release read. “Once Sutton was inside, he went to the bedroom where his ex-girlfriend was lying in bed and shot her multiple times until his gun jammed. Sutton continued to fire even after his gun jammed.”

He was arrested about a month later.

Text messages Sutton sent after the shooting say, “I did what I did cause she was being sneaky.” He said he “blanked out” and that the scene would have become “real ugly” if it were not for the gun jam.

The victim, now a wheelchair user, addressed the court, reiterating that her life is changed forever.

Under South Carolina law, the Attempted Murder charge is classified as a violent and a “no parole” offense, according to the release. There were no plea negotiations in this case.

Senior Assistant Solicitor Sutania A. Fuller handled the prosecution of this case for the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor’s Office, it was investigated by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department and Chief Administrative Judge Debra R. McCaslin presided.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 800-799-7233. You can also text “START” to 88788.

Over 42% of S.C. women and over 29% of S.C. men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes, according to statistics from the South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.

The coalition also details 57 domestic violence homicides in 2021 throughout the state, and that the cause of death in most S.C. domestic violence homicides is a gunshot.