FROM STAFF REPORTS

A Statesville man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison on Wednesday in connection with a shooting that occurred on Garfield Street last summer.

Craig Alan Blackwell Jr., 35, pleaded guilty in Iredell County Superior Court to Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury, two counts of Possession of Firearm by a Felon, and Assault by Strangulation.

Superior Court Judge Tonia Cutchin, who presided over Wednesday’s hearing, ordered Blackwell to serve 127 to 165 months in prison.

The charges were filed by the Statesville Police Department in connection with a shooting on June 24, 2023. 

On the day of the shooting, officers responded to Iredell Memorial Hospital after receiving a report that an individual was being treated there for a gunshot wound to the stomach. The shooting victim, whose name was not released by the SPD, was transported to Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem with life-threatening injuries.

As the investigation progressed, Blackwell was identified as a suspect in the shooting, and the SPD obtained warrants for his arrest.

Blackwell was apprehended by Iredell County Sheriff’s Office deputies on July 3, 2023, on Greenbriar Road.

The Statesville Police Department expressed its gratitude to Assistant District Attorney Chris Cleveland and District Attorney Sarah Kirkman for efforts in prosecuting this case.