PRESS RELEASE
State Attorney Ginger Madden announces that on May 16, 2025, 21-year-old Nicholas Vallia was found guilty by a jury of Attempted Second Degree Murder with a Firearm, Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle, and Discharging a Firearm from a Vehicle. The trial was presided over by Circuit Judge Amy Brodersen, and the defendant was represented by defense attorneys Gene Mitchell and John Beroset.
During an investigation into a shooting on Nine Mile Road that occurred on September 23, 2023, investigators determined that the defendant, who was 19 years old at the time, shot into a vehicle occupied by three high school teenagers, who had just left the Deluna Lanes Bowling Alley.
Prior to the shooting, the high school students and the defendant and his friends exchanged insults in the bowling alley parking lot. As the high school students drove away from the bowling alley, the defendant got in his car and followed behind them. A short distance later, the defendant then fired his gun into the occupied vehicle. A bullet struck the driver in his left arm and then it traveled through his elbow and through his abdominal region. The defendant fled the scene. The victim was treated for his life-threatening injuries at Sacred Heart Hospital by a trauma team.
A sentencing hearing is set on June 18, 2025 at 8:30 a.m.
The case was investigated by investigators at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Ki Misora McInnis prosecuted the case at trial. For further information, please contact the State Attorney’s Office at 850-595-4200.
