Man pleads guilty in Talmadge shooting that left teen girl paralyzed

A man who opened fire outside a party in the Talmadge neighborhood and shot a 17-year-old bystander who ended up paralyzed pleaded this week to charges of attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm causing paralysis.

Juan Diaz Velazco, 21, is set to be sentenced later this year to 24 years in state prison for the October 2023 shooting.

San Diego police said gunfire broke out just before 1 a.m. Oct. 28 amid a fight between two groups of people on Winona Avenue.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the shooting happened after “gang members issued gang challenges to rivals outside of a high school party. Diaz Velazco fired the first shots which hit and paralyzed an innocent girl, who was a high school cheerleader.”

Prosecutors said the gunshots fired by Diaz Velazco, who was 19 years old at the time, struck Brianna Wallace in the back. Wallace, then a Lincoln High School student, was paralyzed from the waist down as a result.