A Hamilton County judge sentenced three men to prison Wednesday in connection with a 2017 attempted murder that prosecutors say left one man paralyzed.
Demarcus Hubbard, Tadarius Hester and Darrien Metcalf pleaded guilty to reduced attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault charges for the June 25, 2017, shooting of Dequan Duke near the Bayberry Apartments. Their other charges, reckless endangerment and employing a firearm during a dangerous felony, were dismissed.
Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman accepted Wednesday’s agreement worked out between prosecutors and defense attorneys. He said the men will be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of their eight-year sentences for the attempted murder.
That’s because all three men are considered range-one offenders who qualify for the lower end of punishment. Their additional six-year punishment for aggravated assault will run concurrently, meaning the men will be serving that at the same time as the attempted murder conviction.
Parole eligibility doesn’t mean they will be released, and the men also will receive credit for the nearly year and a half they spent in custody before Wednesday.