Man sentenced to 4 1/2 years in shooting death

KINGMAN — A Lake Havasu City man was sentenced Thursday to 4 1/2 years in prison for shooting another man during a late-night brawl outside of a diner.

Jonathan David Alldredge, 24, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter as part of a plea agreement filed in Mohave County Superior Court. He had been charged with second-degree murder, a charge that carries a sentence of 10 to 22 years in prison.

Alldredge shot Shawn Keenan, 29, on July 13, 2007, in an alley outside of Chili Charlie's restaurant on North Lake Havasu Avenue. Police said the shooting happened at about 11:15 p.m. after the restaurant was closed. Alldredge was arrested later that night in the 2100 block of Holly Avenue, reportedly loading luggage into his car.

He told Judge Robert Moon that the shooting was done in self-defense, saying Keenan and two other men were trying to rob him.

“I was afraid for my life,” Alldredge said. “I was defending myself. … I thought he was going to kill me.”

During the hearing, Alldredge said Keenan had knocked him to the ground and tried to wrestle his gun away from him. Witnesses told police Alldredge pulled a Glock .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun out of his pocket and fired at Keenan four times, hitting him twice in the chest.

Prosecutor Jeremy Huss said that given the facts, it would have been difficult for the state to get a conviction. He said a ballistics analysis showed the bullets had an upward trajectory, indicating that Alldredge was probably on his back when he shot Keenan. That is usually a sign of a shooting carried out in self-defense, Huss said.

“I think it’s an appropriate resolution,” he said after the hearing. “Self-defense cases are extremely difficult for us to prove. This case would be no exception.”

The case was problematic for other reasons as well. One of the men who was with Keenan during the alleged robbery attempt disappeared after the shooting. The other has changed his story several times since the night of the shooting, Huss said.

The autopsy revealed that Keenan’s blood-alcohol level was 0.34 percent when he was killed, perhaps making him a less sympathetic victim to a jury, Huss said.

At the hearing, Alldredge’s hands were cuffed to his waist, his ankles were shackled, and he wore orange jail scrubs. He appeared remorseful when he described how he shot Keenan.

“Your honor, I’m very sorry for what happened,” he said.

When Moon handed down the sentence, Alldredge stared straight ahead, showing no visible reaction.

Several of his relatives sobbed as he was escorted back to the Mohave County Jail. None of Keenan’s relatives were in the courtroom. However, Huss said Keenan’s sister and aunt had agreed to the plea agreement.

Before he was killed, Keenan lived in Bangor, Maine. He moved to Arizona in April 2007, working as a painter. A call to the mother of Keenan’s child, Angie Hawkes, was not immediately returned.

You may contact the reporter at raap@havasunews.com.

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