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Grooms could face up to 15 years in cat shooting case

2/5/2016

By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer

A woman charged with shooting at a man during a dispute over a cat faces up to 15 years in prison under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors.

Janie Grooms, 55, pleaded guilty Jan. 27 in Montgomery County Circuit Court to an amended charge of first-degree wanton endangerment. She had been charged with attempted murder.

Grooms also pleaded guilty to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Under the plea agreement, Grooms would serve five years on the wanton endangerment charge and 10 years on the firearms charge, run consecutively for a total of 15 years.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, however, agrees to make no recommendation until review of a presentence investigative report from the Office of Probation and Parole.

Formal sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 25 before Judge William “Bill” Lane.

Grooms is alleged to have fired six gunshots at a neighbor, Michael Bishop, who had reportedly used a live trap previously to catch one of her cats.

Bishop claimed that one of Grooms’ cats had damaged his vehicles.
Grooms reportedly went to confront Bishop after learning that he had trapped another neighbor’s cat. Neighbors in the Twin Brook neighborhood reported that Grooms shot at Bishop, who avoided being hit by running behind a set of duplexes.

Authorities initially charged Grooms with attempted murder because she had reportedly threatened to kill Bishop prior to the incident. Twin Brook is located behind Mann Dodge-Chrysler.