Ex-Bengal Joe Mixon's sister to appear in court in 2023 shooting of teen near Mixon's home

The sister of former Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon is expected to appear in court Tuesday in connection with a shooting last year outside Mixon’s house that wounded a 16-year-old boy who was playing “Nerf Wars.”

Shalonda Mixon, 35, is charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing justice. Joe Mixon was not charged in connection with the March 6, 2023, shooting, which happened in Anderson Township. Prosecutors, however, say he was with 35-year-old Lamonte Brewer that night when Brewer opened fire on the teen from Mixon's yard.

Brewer, Shalonda Mixon’s boyfriend, is accused of firing approximately 11 shots at the teen as he “fled for his life,” according to court documents. A bullet struck the teen in the foot. The teen's family's property was next to Mixon's property.

Brewer is facing charges in both state and federal court. Court documents say he used an AK-47-style pistol.

Officials say Shalonda Mixon tampered with evidence when she picked up 7.62mm shell casings off the ground. Her case is in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court before Judge Chris Wagner.

Joe Mixon is being sued by the teen and his parents, who months after the shooting sold their home and moved.

The lawsuit says they “did not feel safe living next to” Mixon.

Agent: Shalonda Mixon's kids hid in basement

Mixon’s agent, Peter Schaffer, has said that in the weeks before the shooting, Mixon’s address was improperly publicized, and he had been receiving threats on social media and at his home. The teens playing the game, Schaffer said, blocked the street with their vehicles, appeared to be carrying weapons and were running into neighboring yards.

There was enough concern that a man in Mixon’s home called 911 and Mixon himself called the Bengals director of security, according to Schaffer. Shalonda Mixon's five children also were inside the home and were instructed to hide in the basement.

Eventually, Mixon went outside, his agent said, trying to figure out what was going on. The teen who was shot, according to Mixon’s agent, appeared to be carrying a rifle and was running directly toward Mixon’s property.

His agent also said Mixon ultimately stopped Brewer from firing.

Teen was 'running for his life'

Documents filed as part of the lawsuit describe the shooting from the teens’ perspectives.

About 15 minutes before the shooting, according to the documents, two of the 16-year-old’s friends talked to Joe Mixon across a fence that separates the properties. The friends say they told him they were playing Nerf Wars.

The teens continued to play the game until they heard gunfire. They then drove away “to avoid being shot,” the documents say.

As the 16-year-old, who is not named in the documents, “was running for his life, in his own yard, away from the gunfire,” he felt bullets “hissing by his head.”

He was struck in the right foot. A bullet also struck his Nerf rifle, the documents say. He hid behind a tree next to his house, bleeding, the documents say. He began to vigorously dig a hole with his own hands in the mulch and dirt.

The 16-year-old’s father, according to the documents, “watched in fear and horror” as gunfire was directed at his son. He could see dirt being "kicked up" as bullets struck the landscaping.

The 16-year-old was treated at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center emergency room that night. The bullet was removed several weeks later.

The lawsuit says the teens had previously played Nerf Wars while Shalonda Mixon and Brewer were at the home.

The idea that Mixon, his sister and Brewer “felt in fear of their lives from 16-year-old high school students playing Nerf Wars with … colored, toy Nerf rifles,” the documents say, “is utterly ridiculous, unbelievable, and it is unreasonable that Joe Mixon or anyone in Mixon’s home could have feared for their lives.”

After the shooting, according to federal prosecutors, Shalonda Mixon picked up many of the shell casings from the yard and fled in her car with Brewer.

Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies stopped them soon after.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ex-Bengal Joe Mixon's sister to appear in court in shooting of teen