Driving on a stretch of Banksville Road changed a man’s life forever when he was shot in the face. On Thursday, he reluctantly agreed to a plea deal that puts the shooter in jail for at least four years.
“It’s something I think about every single day, and I will continue to every single day,” Bob Long said. “Every time I look in the mirror, I can’t think of it.”
Bob Long had his last surgery over the summer and is finally back to work, after a business trip to Pittsburgh left him without one of his eyes.
“I still don’t have an eye, still have a lot of problems in my nasal cavity. Big problems with that,” Long said.
Rashawn Hall took the plea deal and was sentenced to four to eight years in prison. Hall admitted to firing at Long as they drove onto the Parkway West off of Banksville Road.
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At first, Long was reluctant to agree to that sentence.
“It was anger. It was definitely anger. I pretty much shut down the DA after that. I said, ‘Don’t bother calling me, emailing me…I have to process this," Long said.
He ultimately agreed.
“I really wanted to get it behind us. It’s been a long time. We are coming into the holidays and beyond…I just didn’t want that lingering over our heads," Long said.
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In court, Hall apologized.
“He basically said he was sorry for the physical and mental pain that he had caused my family and me, and he’s going to try to be a better person,” Long said.
Long is hoping the sentence will make a difference.
“I’m not happy with the 4-8 sentence, but if it means he goes in and he does in fact change his life, that negates all of that negativity that I had about it,” Long said.
The parole board will determine the length of Hall’s sentence.
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