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Man Who Shot and Paralyzed 11-Year-Old Girl Pleads Guilty to Assault

 Kane Cooper, 19, pleaded guilty Monday to shooting 11-year-old Tayloni Mazyck in Bed-Stuy in 2013. Mazyck was struck by a stray bullet that left her paralyzed.
Kane Cooper, 19, pleaded guilty Monday to shooting 11-year-old Tayloni Mazyck in Bed-Stuy in 2013. Mazyck was struck by a stray bullet that left her paralyzed.
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Brooklyn DA's Office

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A Brooklyn man accused of shooting an 11-year-old girl and leaving her paralyzed in 2013 pleaded guilty Monday to assault, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney.

Kane Cooper, of Bed-Stuy, faces 17 years in prison after firing a barrage of bullets on May 31, 2013, and striking Tayloni Mazyck in the neck.

The victim was sitting in front of her home at 600 Gates Ave. when Cooper began shooting at alleged members of the Gates Avenue Mafia, officials said.

Mazyck was hit by one of 10 bullets, which lodged in her spine and left her paralyzed from the waist down, according to the DA’s office.

Cooper, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault Monday. His sentencing is set for June 8.

"Senseless gang violence has changed this beautiful little girl’s life forever," DA Ken Thompson said in a statement. "With this guilty plea, she will now be spared the trauma of testifying about being shot, the defendant is guaranteed to serve a long time in prison and our streets are now safer."

He also pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a loaded firearm in a separate June 2012 incident and he was previously arrested for unlawful possession of marijuana.

A lawyer for Cooper could not immediately be reached for comment.