MUSKEGON, MI – A man who shot another when he was a teen has been sent to prison for shooting a 1-year-old riding in a vehicle last year.

Lamonte Daniel Trotter, 26, of Muskegon will serve at least three years in prison for the shooting that occurred on Smith Street in the city of Muskegon on Oct. 19, 2018.

The child’s mother testified that Trotter shot at a van in which she and her three children, ages 3, 1 and 2 months, were passengers.

Trotter pleaded no contest to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. He was sentenced by Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks to a minimum of 36 months and a maximum of 15 years in prison.

At Trotter’s preliminary examination in November 2018, the child’s mother testified the van she was in was traveling on Smith Street in the city of Muskegon when Trotter suddenly walked into the street, prompting the van to strike him. She testified there was no way the driver could have stopped in time.

Trotter, who court records show lived on Smith Street, then approached the driver’s side of the van with his hand inside his coat, she said.

“It was basically like we was being held hostage like, and I’m just like what’s going on?” the woman testified.

When the driver fled, Trotter started shooting at the van, she said. Bullets struck a taillight, the license place and entered the vehicle and went into the seat where the 3-year-old was seated, she said.

When she got home, she realized her 1-year-old son had been shot in his lower leg near his knee. She testified she recognized the shooter as Trotter because he had been friends with her sister. The shooting occurred during daylight.

When Trotter was 15, he pleaded no contest to assault with intent to murder for shooting another teen in the mouth. Police reported at the time of the 2008 shooting that Trotter and the 18-year-old had argued prior to the shooting, which occurred at 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday near Third Street and Monroe Avenue.

After the shooting, the victim's friends chased Trotter and he allegedly turned to fire at one of his pursuers, but the gun would not fire, the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office said at the time.

The second victim, also an 18-year-old, got into a fight with one of Trotter's companions and Trotter allegedly hit him in the mouth with the gun, police said.

Trotter was tried in that case as an adult in family court. He was ordered to a secure treatment center in July 2008, and later was moved to the Muskegon County Youth Home, court records show. He returned to his mother’s home in 2011, though remained a temporary ward of the court, according to court records.