'You've pretty much taken everything I was': Man sentenced for shooting that paralyzed Worcester woman

WORCESTER – A man whose stray gunshot bullets left a city woman paralyzed inside her Gates Street home in 2020 was sentenced Friday to 18 to 20 years in state prison.

A jury on Dec. 1 found Phillip Palmer, 45, a local man with roots in New Jersey, guilty of one charge of assault and battery with a firearm and two counts of gun possession charges.

The shooting did not appear to have targeted the victim, Angela Lamb, who was shot at 11 p.m. on Halloween night in 2020.

Assistant District Attorney Brett Dillon, who recommended Friday the sentence to Judge James G. Reardon Jr., read from a statement sent to the court by Lamb.

“You've pretty much taken everything I was,” read Dillon. “I'm a mother and a grandmother, was very active in the lives of my children and grandchildren. I was also very active in general and now I can't drive, walk or hold my grandbabies.

“I will never walk again, and that's because of your careless choice to not care who you were hurting. Now I sit here in a wheelchair or a bed. That is now all I can do.”

Dillon also read from a statement written by Erika Ross, Lamb’s daughter.

“I don't think you can even comprehend how hard these last three years have been,” Ross wrote, “having countless nights crying in front of my two children and not being able to get them to understand the situation.

“You shamelessly almost took her life, and we still don't have a reason.”

While Dillon read, Palmer stood up, nodding as he followed the words on a copy Dillon gave him.

Speaking slowly and appearing to choose his words carefully, Palmer said he wished he could speak to the victim.

“I didn't do it to get back at anyone or anything,” said Palmer. “I feel for the victims, but I don't know where to stand on this.”

He added that his “innocence was on the wall,” saying he would continue “to fight for my life,” "and that’s the Buster Douglas story."

Douglas is a former boxer who rose to international fame when he beat world champion Mike Tyson in 1990. He has often become synonymous with an underdog overcoming deeply unfavorable odds.

Held in custody since shortly after the shooting, Palmer has 1,109 days of credit toward his sentencing.

Reardon said he decided on the 18- to 20-year sentence given Palmer’s “age and his criminal history.”

Earlier on Friday, Palmer pleaded guilty to two drug possession charges stemming from a police stop in September 2018 in Spencer.

Before pleading guilty, Palmer smiled as Reardon read him his rights.

Palmer received two four- to five-year sentences on the drug charges, which will be served concurrently with the 18- to 20-year sentence in the shooting.

"This was a callous offense,” said Reardon, “which represents a cruel indifference to the lives, safety and health of other individuals unknown to this defendant.

“It's an egregious offence no matter how you look at it. … These actions are inexcusable and deserve especially significant sentencing.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Phillip Palmer sentenced in shooting that paralyzed Worcester woman