With third guilty plea, 2021 Walmart shooting cases all resolved

NORTHAMPTON  –  Criminal charges against three people involved in an August 2021 shooting incident at the Hadley Walmart have been resolved in Hampshire Superior Court, with the final defendant sentenced to a year in jail after his guilty plea this month.

The incident unfolded on Aug. 22, 2021, in the bathroom of the Walmart, where defendant Wilmer Alvarez-Vargas, of Chicopee, shot and badly injured two teenagers. Days later, the two victims were charged with gun and drug charges while still recovering in the hospital from life-threatening injuries.  The resulting criminal cases were resolved as follows:

• Alvarez-Vargas, now 27, was sentenced by Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey to serve 4 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty on Sept. 23 to 2 counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. He also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition, receiving concurrent sentences in the house of correction. The sentence was jointly recommended by Northwestern Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Suhl and defense attorney Nikolas Andreopoulos of Springfield.

• Juan Hernandez, 20, of New York, pleaded guilty in court Dec. 12 to unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Carey sentenced him to serve a year in the house of correction followed by a year on probation, a sentence jointly recommended by Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Andrew Covington and defense attorney Colin Keefe of Greenfield. Hernandez was shot in the face during the Walmart incident.

• Jeruan Matos Colon, 21, of Springfield, was sentenced to two years of probation on charges of possession of heroin and cocaine after he pleaded guilty Aug. 30. Carey adopted the sentence jointly recommended by ADA Covington and defense attorney David Mintz of Northampton. Colon was shot in the chest during the Walmart incident.