KINGMAN – Family members, his attorney and the young Lake Havasu City man who fired gunshots toward a house party last summer asked for some measure of leniency during a Jan. 3 mitigation and sentencing hearing at the Mohave County Law and Justice Center in Kingman.
Seth Duda, 21, was repeatedly described as a kind person who had never before been in trouble, a man diagnosed with depression years ago, along with attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder.
Duda and his supporters noted he is currently engaged with Alcoholics Anonymous, an anger management program and weekly therapy sessions. All said he is working hard to better himself with future ambition to serve the U.S. Navy.
Duda in October pleaded guilty to a drive by shooting charge for firing rounds into an RV and a home last August. He said he was intoxicated and upset that his girlfriend broke up with him and that he was not welcome at the youth drinking party in the 1900 block of Spirit Lane.
“He made a terrible mistake, which is out of character for him,” Duda’s stepfather told Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen. “He is kind-hearted and he’s a good kid.”
Duda said he was hammered and consumed by jealousy when he fired rounds into the air, never intending to hurt anyone. No one was injured by the gunfire.
“It was reckless, impulsive and I take full responsibility for it,” Duda said.
Deputy county attorney Leah Nelson countered that distorting the facts does not represent accepting responsibility.
“He did not shoot into the air,” Nelson said. “He shot into the house several times, multiple times. Bullets whizzed past teenagers’ heads.”
Nelson said the house was full of teenagers and young adults. She said many hit the ground and took cover in the back yard during the bullet barrage and that it was only “divine intervention” and good fortune that no one was hurt.
“This is a drunk idiot who lost his girlfriend making a stupid mistake endangering the lives of others,” Jantzen said. “We’ve all done dumb things, but this is beyond the pale of dumb.”
Jantzen declined to order the 5-7-year prison term requested by the prosecutor. He instead placed the defendant on probation for five years and sent him directly to jail.
Duda must serve a 180-day sentence at the Adult Detention Facility, though he gets credit for the 29 days previously served.
Dave Hawkins
