CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two defendants pleading guilty in the May 2024 drive-by shooting near the Shawnee Sports Complex in Dunbar.
Antonio Jacobs, 19, and Zion Clark, 24, came before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers Monday.
They are two of the three defendants being charged in connection to the drive-by shooting that took place on May 19, 2024 near the athletic complex while a youth soccer tournament was being held. 
Kaden Bowman, 24, is the third defendant in the case. His case is currently still pending.
All three are being charged with multiple counts of wanton endangerment involving a firearm after firing several shots during an alleged altercation.
Jacobs had his plea hearing first on Monday. He pled guilty to four of the ten counts of wanton endangerment with a firearm he was originally charged with.
He said he was sorry for how the situation escalated and frightened the hundreds of people attending the soccer tournament that day.
“For me, I know I can speak on what I did wrong, and what I did was wrong,” Jacobs said. “I would like to apologize to those people that was at that game, it’s just I wasn’t in the right mindset.”
Clark pled guilty to three of the nine counts of wanton endangerment with a firearm in the case.
He was also indicted in a previous situation regarding a traffic stop in 2023 where he was discovered to be in possession of methamphetamine, marijuana, and fentanyl with intent to deliver, however that indictment was dismissed as it was included in the plea agreement.
Clark said the May 19th shooting situation was initially going to be a planned fist fight that had escalated.
“There was an altercation in Dunbar where it got out of hand and I fired several times,” he said.
Both Jacobs and Clark were hesitant to say exactly who was involved in the altercation and how it started, but Judge Akers said she was going to need some more clarification.
“What happened out there was a big deal, you know that, and there were a lot of people who were affected,” Akers said. “So, you’re going to have to tell me the whole story, and I understand that you don’t want to tell on other people and that’s not what this is about, but I think everyone needs to understand what happened that day.”
The defendants said they were together in one vehicle and Clark was on his way to fight Bowman, and before anyone knew it, shots started to be fired between both parties.
The state prosecuting attorney said their original counts were reflective to the exact number of shots both defendants fired, a total of nine and ten times each.
Jacobs said he could only speak on his own behalf, and he was trying to defend himself when the shots started to be fired.
“It was too much going on, I couldn’t really see who shot first or anything, I just saw that shots were being fired from both sides and I returned fire back,” he said.
However, his defense attorney, Alan Pritt said they had to rule out any self-defense plea as they realized that wouldn’t hold up in this situation.
“In my opinion, if you show up to a fist fight, if you show up to an altercation with a gun and it turns into a gun fight, it’s really hard to argue self-defense,” Pritt said.
Both Clark and Jacob’s sentencings are set for June 5 at 1:30 p.m.
Bowman is set to appear in court on June 9 at 9 a.m.