Suspect in East Central shooting pleads guilty

A man first accused of trying to kill an East Central resident outside his home pleaded guilty Monday to criminal mischief with a deadly weapon.

Ronald Ricci Jr. received an 81-day jail sentence, which he has already served in the Spokane County Jail, and a year of probation.

Ricci and Dustin Leonard were accused in the September beating and shooting of Hunter Dozier on the 3200 block of East Fifth Avenue.

Leonard drove the group to a nearby casino but then left Dozier and friends without a ride back to his home. When Dozier found a ride home, he blacked out, according to a witness statement in court documents.

Dozier awakened as he was being attacked and beaten with a wrench, court documents say.

Dozier ran out of the house and was shot by Leonard, according to court documents.

Leonard was taken into custody the night of the shooting after a short standoff with police. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 12 but court records related to his sentencing were not available Monday afternoon.

Ricci was arrested about a week later.

Ricci’s public defender, Jeremy Schmidt, noted in court that his client’s involvement in the assault was less than documents initially suggested.

“The involvement in this matter was really periphery,” Schmidt said.