A 21-year-old man arrested for robbing country singer Scotty McCreery in 2014 has pleaded guilty in a court in Wake County on Monday.
According to ABC 11 , Mikkail Jamal Shaw pleaded guilty to robbing Scotty McCreery and three of his friends at an apartment in Raleigh near the North Carolina State University campus. McCreery is studying communications at the university.
Mikkail Shaw pleads guilty to the armed robbery of Scotty McCreery and 3 of McCreery’s friends. #ABC11 pic.twitter.com/eNGrbRLlgx
— Ed Crump (@EdCrumpABC11) June 27, 2016
The robbery took place on May 5, 2014, at about 2 a.m. Shaw and his accomplices made away with mobile phones, a laptop computer, and up to $800 , according to WRAL .
Shaw lived in Nina Court, Raleigh. Nonetheless, prosecutors have revealed that based on the investigation, it appears that the robbery was random, and Scotty McCreey was not being targeted, ABC 11’s Ed Crump revealed on Twitter.
In the aftermath of the robbery, McCreery described it as a “ very scary night ” in a post on Facebook, according to CNN . The singer promised to share more details of his experience on the night he was robbed after the police investigation had been completed.
McCreery revealed more about the incident in his recently released autobiographical book, Go Big or Go Home: The Journey Toward the Dream . In the book, McCreery talked about feeling the cold gun touching his body , The Tennessean reported.
The police are still looking for Shaw’s accomplices. Initial police reports said that three assailants were involved in the robbery, according to CNN . Meanwhile, Crump has revealed that Shaw has chosen not “to snitch” on the others.
The robbers, who were reportedly wielding pistols and an AK-47, locked up McCreery and his friends in a closet before escaping from the crime scene, according to ABC 11 . McCreery and his friends were unharmed during the burglary.
“They put all the guys in the living area and made them get down on the knees said, ‘Give me your wallets your cellphones’ and made them lie facedown on the stomach on the living room floor,” Prosecutor Jason Waller revealed, according to CBS North Carolina.
Shaw turned himself in to the police a day after robbing McCreery and his friends, CNN reported. It is unclear why Shaw chose to voluntarily hand himself over to the authorities. However, forensic evidence has established that he is one of the people who robbed McCreery, ABC 11 reports.
Shaw has pleaded guilty to up to eight charges, including robbery with a dangerous weapon and burglary. According to CBS North Carolina , he could be sentenced to up to 100 years in prison. Shaw’s sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.
McCreery’s mother, Judy, was one of the people present in court during the hearing on Monday. Given that Shaw has admitted guilt, it is unlikely that McCreery will be called to the stand to testify against the suspect.
Scotty McCreery gained fame at the age of 17 after winning the tenth season of American Idol in 2011. The 22-year-old Country singer now has three albums to his credit and has won several awards including the Academy of Country Music’s best new artist award in 2012.
Scotty McCreery is currently making waves online after the Grand Ole Opry released a video on YouTube of his performance of a song titled “Five More Minutes.” McCreery wrote the song for his grandfather, Bill McCreery, who passed away at the age of 86 on January 11, 2015, Taste of Country reported.
https://youtu.be/gb8o8fgMs3A
McCreery has revealed that he wrote the song a few weeks after the passing of his grandfather, according to ABC Radio . The song captures the moments when his grandfather passes and McCreery’s wish to spend more time with him.
Meanwhile, Scotty McCreery is yet to release any statement about the case in light of the fact that Shaw has pleaded guilty to the charges against him.
[Photo by David Becker/Getty Images]