Amherst Twp. man gets more than 30 years in prison for 2025 shooting that wounded van driver (UPDATED)

ELYRIA — Nicholas DeJesus was sentenced Wednesday to more than 30 years in prison for shooting into traffic on state Route 58 last year, wounding a woman driving a van carrying disabled adults to their day program. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Giovanna Bremke ordered DeJesus, 29, of Amherst Township, to serve 31-to-32½ years in prison on 13 criminal charges. Bremke said that while she couldn't ignore the undiagnosed and untreated mental health issues DeJesus had that caused him to shoot into traffic, he still put multiple adults and children at risk. His "one terrible decision" on May 19, 2025, may not define him, but DeJesus' actions "betrayed the trust" that families of the people riding in the van put in their caregivers to keep them safe and secure, Bremke said. DeJesus declined to say anything in court and had no reaction as sheriff's deputies led him away. Family members who had begged Bremke to give him the minimum sentence sobbed and expressed shock and disbelief when the total prison sentence was tallied. The judge praised van driver Cassie Ringer who, temporarily paralyzed by a bullet in her spine, had the "remarkable courage and presence of mind" to stop the van and calm her terrified passengers before help arrived. DeJesus withdrew his original plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in June and pleaded guilty to 16 charges: Multiple counts of felonious assault and discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, a charge of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and attached firearms specifications. He briefly tried to withdraw the guilty plea but decided against it last week, defense attorney Issa Elkhatib said in court. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre questioned the defense argument that DeJesus was provoked by another driver before the shooting. DeJesus, who was found sane and competent to stand trial after multiple evaluations, "knew the wrongfulness of his actions at the time," he said. DeJesus has been undergoing mental health treatment and taking his prescribed medication ever since his diagnosis and release on conditional bond from the Lorain County Jail in July 2025, Elkhatib said. Elkhatib said his client couldn't process "the amount of stress and the amount of danger" he thought he was under when he fired into traffic on Route 58 and hit a Rising Sun Centers van on May 19, 2025. The Lorain County Sheriff's Office said DeJesus was driving a black Volkswagen SUV when he got into an argument with a man in a maroon Dodge Charger in front of the Flowerama at Cooper Foster Park Road and South Broadway just before 8 a.m. that day. DeJesus hit the Charger but missed its occupants, a father and his two young children headed to Langston Middle School in Oberlin. That school briefly went on lockdown but there was no danger and the Charger driver was not criminally charged. Pierre said that DeJesus wasn't "provoked," because evidence showed he left the area, turned his car around in a private driveway and went back to the scene of the road rage encounter before opening fire, sending eight bullets flying toward innocent motorists and bystanders. That shows intent, Pierre said, and wasn't the first time DeJesus had threatened others he believed were following or watching him: He threatened his elderly neighbors in 2020 for that reason and hit another transport van and threatened those inside a month before the shooting. On the day of the shooting, Ringer was taking five developmentally disabled adults to their day program when the van window behind her exploded, she said in court. She said at first, she thought she had been electrocuted by a live wire. Her passengers were upset, shouting and screaming. All she knew was that they were in danger, and that she couldn't feel her legs. Ringer now knows they were temporarily paralyzed by a bullet from DeJesus' gun that lodged in her spinal column and put pressure on her spinal cord. Ringer told Bremke she had "no idea" if her passengers were injured or in pain like she was, but that her first concern was for their safety. Thinking quickly, she turned on the van's hazard lights, lifted her right leg with her hands and placed her right foot on the brake pedal. That brought the van to a safe stop, she said. "I was definitely hurt but I needed to take care of them and make sure they were safe," Ringer said through tears. She said she told her passengers "'We'll be OK' when in reality I had no idea if we'd be OK." Passersby helped Ringer until first responders could take her to the hospital. She regained feeling in her legs and is able to walk, but the bullet remains permanently lodged in her spinal column, unsafe to remove. Marissa Smith, program director at Rising Sun and Ringer's best friend, said in court the morning "was a normal morning until it wasn't." One of her clients, a woman with cerebral palsy sitting directly behind Ringer, was saved from being shot in the head only because her condition causes her to lean to one side, the side that just happened to be out of the bullet's path. Smith said another passenger in the van that day, a man with no prior history of heart problems, later had a heart attack Smith said she believes was caused by the stress of the shooting. "This was not a moment that ended when the shooting stopped," Smith said, a shooting that was "a result of choices" DeJesus made. Elkhatib said DeJesus was suffering from paranoid delusions and believed he was being followed that day. His client cried in court as supporters begged Bremke to have mercy on him because of his mental health. More than the minimum 11 years in prison for DeJesus would be "an injustice," Elkhatib said prior to Bremke pronouncing the sentence. DeJesus and his family can't apologize enough to Ringer, her passengers and their families, Elkhatib and the DeJesus family said. "My brother is a good person and I am truly sorry for the pain he has caused," Breann Mahaffey said through tears. "I'm so sorry from the bottom of my heart," his mother, Lisa Ducar, said in between sobs. She said she had tried "everything" to get her son help when she noticed his behavior changing and his paranoia increasing, but "nobody would help me, nobody would listen." Josh DeJesus, a police officer in a Columbus suburb, said he convinced his brother Nicholas to turn himself in during a phone call after the shooting. He said he has seen people on both sides of the law in similar situations but now, it was the brother he loves. "Standing here today and asking for compassion for my brother is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do," Josh DeJesus said, asking Bremke to put Nicholas DeJesus in a place where he can get mental health treatment. "Give the victims justice and closure and give my brother the help he needs and a second chance." Bremke said Ohio law did not give her the power to demand or request state prison officials put Nicholas DeJesus in a mental health facility. She said she found Nicholas DeJesus' behavior, especially his issues while driving, especially troubling. Bremke told him she could both "have compassion but still hold you accountable for the choices you made." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.