Pharmacy shooter Ayers gets 17 years in prison

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Parker Ayers talks in 13th Circuit Court on Friday during his sentencing trial with Judge Philip E. Rodgers Jr. presiding. Record-Eagle/Keith King

February 18, 2012

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Sat Feb 18, 2012, 07:14 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY — Parker Ayers didn't kill any law officers, and contends he never tried to do so.

But he shot multiple times in the direction of two Grand Traverse County sheriff's deputies during a tense September standoff at a pharmacy near Wuerfel Park, and ammunition boxes found at the scene suggest he planned to continue his assault.

Assistant Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Bob Cooney spoke Friday at Ayers' sentencing in 13th Circuit Court. Ayers' actions likely will have a profound and lasting impact on the deputies and those close to them, he said.

"I'm reminded of a conversation I had with a certain detective who communicated that every time he gets put on road patrol, his wife has to go to a counselor to deal with the fact that something like this could happen," he said. "When something like this does happen, it has an impact not just upon the officers who are involved in the case, but ... on their families and all of the people who care about them."

Circuit Judge Philip E. Rodgers sentenced Ayers, 26, to a minimum of 17 years in prison on a host of felony charges. Jurors in January found Ayers guilty of two counts of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a count of breaking and entering a building, a count of having a firearm as a felon, a count of using a firearm during a felony and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

Ayers and an accomplice, Whitney Marie McNett, smashed a vehicle through the doors of Medicap Pharmacy off Chums Village Drive in an effort to steal drugs. Deputies arrived and ordered them out of the building, but Ayers instead pointed a gun and fired at deputies.

The couple went into a rear room in the pharmacy, and about 25 area officers descended on the scene. A small team of officers eventually entered the building and found Ayers and McNett in an "incapacitated state" next to two empty bottles of methadone tablets, according to court records. Both were taken to the hospital.

Ayers — who only weeks before the standoff was released from prison after serving more than two years on a drug charge — said during sentencing that he's "disgusted" by his actions.

"I'd just like to apologize to everyone — the courts, the community, my family," he said. "I'm ashamed of what happened, and I take responsibility for what happened."

Grand Traverse County Undersheriff Nate Alger believes Ayers intended to kill his deputies. He had mixed feelings about the sentence.

"Obviously, we're still disappointed he wasn't convicted of attempted murder," Alger said. "But 17 years is a long time to spend in prison, and I hope he comes to realize that he does not want to be back there."

McNett, 28, will spend between 38 and 120 months behind bars after pleading guilty to breaking and entering a building with intent in October.