BULLHEAD CITY – A prison term is mandated in a plea agreement for a Bullhead City teenager charged in a drive-by shooting. Brendon LaFlair, 19, pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge during a Jan. 6 hearing in Kingman.
Police and prosecutors maintain that LaFlair and co-defendant Madilyn Hammarstedt traveled together to the River Springs apartment complex at 1775 Arriba Drive between 2 and 4 a.m. on May 14, 2025.
Bullhead City Police Department Spokeswoman Emily Fromelt said investigation revealed that Hammarstedt had recently moved out of the complex, and that LaFlair argued by telephone and text with complex residents regarding the father of the woman’s child.
Authorities have said on multiple occasions that a woman involved in the dispute was standing outside the apartments when 13 gunshots were fired after the suspect vehicle arrived at the complex. The woman rolled under a parked vehicle to take cover and no one was injured.
Both LaFlair and Hammarstedt deny firing gunshots.
“I wasn’t the person who shot the gun. I just want to put that out there,” LaFlair said during his change of plea hearing, consistent with statements he made during previous legal proceedings. “I was the driver.”
Hammarstedt previously blamed an unidentified third party for the gunfire.
Fromelt said police believe LaFlair was the shooter. Deputy Mohave County Attorney Melinda Bonson said authorities don’t believe there was a third person in the vehicle.
Judge Carlisle had difficulty accepting plea deals for the defendants, given their reluctance to admit firing the weapon, or to identify the alleged mystery accomplice. Carlisle maneuvered around that concern, getting both defendants to admit they were aware there would be gunfire as they traveled to the apartments.
LaFlair faces a two- to 8.75-years in prison range when sentenced Jan. 15.
Hammarstedt also faces a possible 8.75-year prison term, though she is eligible for probation when sentenced February 12.
Dave Hawkins
