Suspected gang member gets prison in Worcester shootings

WORCESTER - An alleged gang member was sentenced Thursday to state prison for two 2015 shootings.

Superior Court Judge Shannon Frison sentenced Devonte Barnes to 5 to 7 years in state prison. According to the Worcester district attorney's office, Assistant District Attorney Sarah B. Richardson recommended 10 to 12 years in prison; Peter Clifford, Mr. Barnes' attorney, recommended 5 to 7.

Mr. Barnes, 21, of 2 Turner Ave., pleaded guilty Aug. 3 in Worcester Superior Court to charges stemming from what prosecutors said was a confrontation between rival gang members that led to gunfire, April 21, 2015, on Randolph Road. Two people suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds. The other shooting Mr. Barnes was implicated in was March 29, 2015, on Plantation Street, in which a car with two occupants was struck by several bullets.

Mr. Barnes, an alleged member of the MOB street gang, pleaded guilty to two counts each of armed assault with intent to murder and armed assault with intent to kill, eight counts of assault with a dangerous weapon (firearm), two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (firearm), three counts of carrying a firearm without a license, two counts of possessing a large-capacity firearm of feeding device, and three counts of unlawfully possessing ammunition.

Mr. Barnes was arrested in April 2015 after hiding a handgun in bushes near Burncoat High School. He admitted to using the gun in the Randolph Road shooting, but insisted he was defending himself at the time. Police later linked Mr. Barnes to the Plantation Street shooting through ballistics tests.