Flint man convicted of firing into home, paralyzing ex-girlfriend

A 23-year-old Flint man accused of firing into a home and paralyzing his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend has been convicted, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said.

Mario Devon White Jr. was found guilty of discharging a firearm in or at a building causing serious impairment of a body function, felony firearm and domestic violence, according to the prosecutor's office.

White will be sentenced on Nov. 9 and faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as a mandatory two-year sentence for felony firearm.

Prosecutors say that on March 23, 2025, the victim was at her home with a man who was playing a video game and talking in an online group chat when White joined the chat. White heard the victim talking in the background and threatened her physically before the man with her replied that White would have to go through him to get to her, prosecutors say.

Video footage showed that White arrived at the victim's home shortly afterward and that he and the man got into a fistfight outside before the man went back inside, prosecutors say.

The victim then opened the front door, saw White outside with a gun, shouted a warning to the others in the house and slammed the door shut, according to prosecutors. 

Prosecutors say that White fired at the house, and at least four shots struck it, with two going through the front door. One of the shots struck the victim, leaving her paralyzed, and she spent several months in the hospital, prosecutors say.

"What started as an argument in an online chat ended with a 17-year-old paralyzed inside her own home. None of this had to happen. A disagreement like this one should end with words, never with someone coming to the door and firing into the house. Our thoughts are with her and her family as she faces a long road ahead," Leyton said.  

The jury found White not guilty of assault with intent to commit murder and an accompanying count of felony firearm.