A teenager has been jailed for life for an “outrageous” gangland shooting in which a 15-year-old girl was struck in the neck by a bullet as she waited for a bus home from school.
The girl, who cannot be named, was caught in the crossfire when Rio Jones, 19, pulled the trigger at a rival as they sped through the streets of Liverpool on electric bikes.
She suffered three fractured vertebrae and lung damage and continues to recover from her injuries. Police said at the time it was “an absolute miracle” she had survived.
Jones, from Toxteth, was on Tuesday jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 16 and a half years after being convicted of attempted murder, wounding and firearms possession.
The honorary recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary QC, described the shooting as a “planned and determined effort to kill a rival” and that his actions were “outrageous”.
A trial heard how the shooting unfolded in broad daylight shortly after 5pm on 1 March last year when Jones spotted his rival, Shakur Watson, and gave chase, speeding through the streets on electric bikes.
As he drew level with Watson, Jones pulled a gun from his pocket and discharged six shots at close range, Liverpool crown court was told.
One hit his intended target, fracturing a bone in his wrist, but another struck a 15-year-old girl who had been sitting down at a bus stop with her friend, aged 14, on their way home from school.
The bullet hit the teenager at the right-hand side of the back of her neck and exited through her chest.
She was rushed to Alder Hey children’s hospital for life-saving treatment and was later discharged. Police said it was “an absolute miracle – and credit to the NHS – that this young woman has survived.”
