Mayfair Mall shooter sentenced to 15 years in prison

 

MILWAUKEE COUNTY (CBS 58) -- A judge has sentenced Xavier Sevilla to 15 years in prison following his guilty plea in the 2020 Mayfair Mall mass shooting.

On November 20, 2020, shots rang out inside the Wauwatosa mall, igniting panic. Eight people were shot and injured. Sevilla was just 15 years old at the time. Prosecutors say he fired a weapon amid an altercation.

Sevilla was sentenced to 20 years, 15 of those years will be initial confinement on five counts of first-degree reckless injury with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutor say police recovered 17 rounds and half the people shot were bystanders.

Sevilla's lawyers requested seven years of initial confinement, citing his age and the fact that the shooting was not planned but the judge said the simple fact that Sevilla came to the mall armed with a semi-automatic firearm overrides how old he was.

"What you did is incredibly serious," said Judge David Feiss.

During the sentencing hearing, the state showed several surveillance videos from inside the mall the day of the shooting. In the videos, you can see crowds running in panic.

Sevilla's parents made statements, offering apologies to the victims and Sevilla himself also spoke. "What I did was violent. What I did was unnecessary. What I did was wrong. I understand my actions has done irreversible harm to the community, the victims, their families, and my own. I never want to cause pain like this again," he said.

During the hearing, the judge expressed concerns about the long-term impact the shooting will have on the community, negatively altering the public's feelings about safety.

"I don't know what's going to happen to the Mayfair Mall but there's a perception in the community that Mayfair has become a dangerous place and we all know there are huge problems in Milwaukee. We can't afford to lose places that draw everybody together. When you did this, you really threatened the health of that entire mall," Judge Feiss said to Sevilla.