Fall River man sentenced to 3 1/2 years after pleading guilty to assisting shooter

FALL RIVER -- A 24-year-old city man was sentenced to between three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years in state prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to assisting a shooter who fired a gun into two occupied cars near Morton Middle School in 2017.

Gianni Carter-Joyner, who was listed as homeless at the time of the daylight shooting, pleaded guilty to a “litany” of firearms related offenses in Fall River Superior Court, a spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said Tuesday.

Quinn was quoted in a statement as praising the decision to hold Carter-Joyner without bail.

"The defendant assisted the shooter in a brazen daytime shooting that could have had grave consequences. He was later stopped while in possession of a loaded magazine," District Attorney Quinn said. "With a prior firearms conviction, he clearly is a danger to the community and needs to be locked up. Fortunately, he was held without bail as a danger to the public before his guilty plea.​"

On August 18, 2017, Carter-Joyner acted as a “lookout” as an unidentified shooter fired several rounds into the two occupied vehicles as they pulled out of the Morton Middle School parking lot, said Gregg Miliote, spokesman for Quinn.

No one was hit by gunfire, according to Miliote. One home was struck.

A neighbor told police she saw a man give a “thumbs up” to the shooter before he opened fire, said Miliote. The neighbor recognized the man who signaled as Carter-Joyner.

Several days later, on August 29, 2017, Fall River Police pulled over Carter-Joyner for speeding in a vehicle that didn’t have an inspection sticker, he said.

While officers verified that Carter-Joyner was driving on a suspended license, they saw Carter-Joyner reach over to the right.

Officers searched his vehicle. They found a large-capacity magazine loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition in a backpack on the passenger side backseat floor, according to Miliote.

Carter-Joyner pleaded guilty on Monday in Fall River Superior Court to four counts of attempted assault and battery by discharge of a firearm, possessing a large capacity feeding device and unlawful possession of ammunition, said Miliote.