CHARLESTON, W.Va – Two men who admitted to taking part in a gunfight near the Shawnee Sports Complex are free on probation after completing alternative sentences.
Antonio Jacobs III and Zion Clark appeared separately before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers on Wednesday. Each man recently finished the program at the Anthony Correctional Center for young adults.
Both Jacobs and Clark pleaded guilty last year to multiple counts of wanton endangerment connected with the 2024 shootout. A third man, Kaden Bowman, was tried last year and found not guilty.
“I want to say that I’m different now, and I’ve grown up from what I did two years ago and me being young and dumb. I just want to show you that I’m different now,” Jacobs told the judge.
The May 2024 shooting resulted in the evacuation of those gathered at Shawnee Sports Complex, which was hosting multiple youth sporting events at the time. Jacobs and Clark both pleaded guilty in April 2025.
After initially receiving prison sentences in June 2025, both men were sent to the Anthony Center in October of last year.
“I just want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to go to the Anthony Center and receive an alternate sentence. I will see that I don’t let you down,” Clark told Akers.
The judge praised Jacobs in particular for his willingness to accept responsibility in the case. She stated she has high hopes for him now that he is free.
“You’re the only one that took immediate responsibility. You pled guilty first, if I recall correctly, and I don’t think you’ve ever tried to shirk responsibility at all. Even when you took your plea, you said, ‘Yep, I did it. I shouldn’t have done it, and it was a stupid thing to do,” she said.
Akers asked the Kanawha County probation office to recommend a length of time for both men to remain on probation after release. Jacobs faces the remainder of a 20-year sentence, and Clark has as much as 15 years to serve if they violate probation.
“I want you to think about that time, that 3-15, because that’s what you’ll get, and I’m not saying that to scare you. I just want you to understand what you have hanging over your head,” Akers said.
Jacobs and Clark were released after being processed at the South Central Regional Jail following the hearings.