Three Cole Harbour teens have pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in connection with a violent home invasion and shooting that left a young woman paralyzed.
Police responded to the home on Arklow Drive in Cole Harbour on Nov. 30.
Three teens were sent to hospital with gunshot wounds while three other teens and an 18-year-old man were arrested in connection with the incident.
One of the victims, Ashley McLean-Kearse, was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Initially, the suspects were charged with attempted murder, robbery and break and enter. However, the Crown has dropped the attempted murder charges against three of the accused, who were 17 at the time of the shooting.
In addition to aggravated assault, the teens have pleaded guilty to charges of break and enter and having their faces masked.
“The young persons entered guilty pleas to some of the counts before the court thus alleviating the need to proceed to trial,” said Crown attorney Jamie Van Wart.
The fourth person charged in connection with the incident, Markel Jason Downey, is facing three counts of attempted murder, among other charges.
Downey was once a champion boxer who represented Nova Scotia at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax at the age of 15.
