Woman who nearly killed Jhayden Gunter outside North Philly convenience store gets 10 to 20 years

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The woman who nearly killed a new college graduate two years ago outside a North Philadelphia convenience store was sentenced to more than a decade in prison Friday during an emotional hearing.

Authorities say in July 2022, Keyshylne Patterson got into an argument with Jhayden Gunter’s boyfriend inside the store then came outside and fired several times at the car Gunter was in before coming around to the side of the car and shooting Gunter once more as she lay motionless.

Gunter was not in court, but her family said she coded twice in the hospital, was in a coma, and went through about a dozen surgeries, having to relearn to walk and talk. They said she now has severe brain damage, suffers grand mal seizures, and has a concave depression in her head.

Gunter’s mother called the shooting “inhumane” and asked Patterson, who has a 3-year-old, how she would feel if someone did this to her child.

“Why would you pick up the most destructive thing in the world when you have the most precious thing in the world at home waiting for you?” asked Gunter’s father.

Patterson said she was sorry to the family and wished Gunter was in court so she could apologize face-to-face

She said she wasn’t the monster they thought she was, and that “mistakes happen.” She said she had recently had the baby and carried a gun, fearful of an abusive relationship.

Prosecutors asked for 20 to 40 years in prison, but Judge Tamika Washington sentenced Patterson to 10 to 20, with two years probation and anger management classes.

Gunter’s mother said her daughter, who should be in a master’s program, is now in a lifelong prison of her own, and can never have children or be who she was meant to be.