A Michigan jury on Thursday convicted 20-year-old Grand Rapids man in the shooting of a comic-store owner during a robbery attempt in April 2008.
Jevon Sawyer faces up to life in prison on charges of assault with intent to rob while armed, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, carrying a concealed weapon and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was found not guilty of assault with intent to murder. He will be sentenced on Jan. 21.
On April 25, 2008, Sawyer demanded at gunpoint for David Pirkola, owner of Apparitions Comics and Books in Kentwood, to give him money from the cash register. Pirkola refused, and after a struggle Sawyer shot him. The 58-year-old retailer spent weeks in the hospital, and still hasn't fully recovered from his injuries.
Sawyer's accomplices, James Muriel-Neal Thompson and James Thompson, were sentenced earlier this year.