Joliet man gets 31 years for shooting that left victim paralyzed

A man was left paralyzed by a shooting at a southwest suburban gas station two years ago, and while the motive remains unclear, the shooter will be spending more than 30 years in prison.

Anthony D. White, 26, pleaded guilty to attempted murder on Feb. 25, and on Friday, Circuit Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes sentenced him to 31 years in prison, according to the Will County state’s attorney’s office.

The Joliet resident shot Marcus Smith, 33, at a Joliet gas station on Feb. 9, 2013, leaving Smith critically injured, prosecutors said.

Though it is not clear why, video surveillance from the station shows White and three others attacking Smith at the Citgo station at 379 S. Chicago St. in Joliet. White eventually “grabbed a gun out of his car and shot Smith during the dispute,” prosecutors said.

At the time, White was on parole after serving five years in prison for a 2008 conviction for aggravated discharge of a firearm conviction.

“Anthony White’s callous brutality has forever changed the lives of Marcus Smith and his family,” State’s Attorney James Glasgow said in the statement. “The defendant’s willingness to shoot his gun with seemingly no provocation has left Mr. Smith paralyzed below the neck. He has earned every minute of his lengthy prison sentence.”