GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Avion Simbler was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for his role in an east-side shooting in December 2022.
Simbler, 18, was convicted of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and three other counts for the incident on Humboldt Road. Judge John Zakowski. He also placed Simbler on extended supervision for five years, followed by four years probation.
Simbler represented himself during Friday’s hearing. He argued the prosecution was labeling him as the shooter, when several witnesses at his trial in May — including the victim — said he was not the shooter.
“The state is trying to now make me the man who pulled the trigger, but at trial, three witnesses testified to the fact that I was not the one to shoot. Especially the most important witness was the victim himself who told out of his mouth, under oath on the stand, that I was not the one to shoot him,” Simbler said.
Before the sentence was issued, Simbler told the judge he has changed in the two years since the shooting.
“I made a lot of mistakes as a kid. 15, 16 years old. I know you’ve seen me in this courtroom before. I’ve been incarcerated since I was 16 for this [the shooting] and that’s not who I am, as a man now,” Simbler said. “I know and accept that what I did was wrong. This is no excuse, but I would like to state that I was a 16-year-old kid and heavily influenced by drugs at the time this happened.”
I’m not here today to argue my innocence but instead to take responsibility for my role and the part I played in the sequence of events that led us here, and to face the consequences and judgement you will bring upon me today.
Last month, Avion’s brother, Anthony Simbler, 20, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the event.
At the time of the shooting, Anthony Simbler was 18 and Avion Simbler was 16. Both were charged in adult court.
According to the criminal complaint, police responded to an apartment complex on Humboldt Road about 2 p.m. Dec. 3, 2022, for a report of a shooting.
The Simblers allegedly attacked a 20-year-old man, with multiple shots being fired. The victim was shot once in the arm and once in the abdomen.
The shooting victim said his sister was having issues with her boyfriend, and he went there with the intention to fight, if needed.
Avion Simbler said he was with his brother but denied being on Humboldt Road. Anthony Simbler admitted he and his brother went to Humboldt Road, but “when the shooting started he ran to his car. Anthony stated a short time later Avion knocked on the car window to be let into the car,” the complaint states.
A gun was recovered at the scene.
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