Marseilles woman gets 3 years prison after Seneca gunfire

The shot may have been an accident and a companion’s lone injury a finger graze, however, Malinda Missel is going to prison for three years.

Missel, 48, of Marseilles appeared Friday in La Salle County Circuit Court for sentencing on one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, a Class 3 felony carrying an extended sentencing range of 2 to 10 years in prison with no probation.

“I’ve been here for a long time and in the last 18 months or so there’s been a lot of gun violence. This is certainly a situation where a message needs to be sent that lawful gun ownership is something we encourage; but illegal, reckless gun ownership is something we need to discourage.”

—  Matt Kidder, La Salle County prosecutor

She was charged after Seneca police and first responders were dispatched March 25, 2023, to 3rd Bar. There, Missel was found with a gunshot wound to her leg and a companion, 58-year-old Russell Mondy, of Seneca, had a finger injury. The discharge was recorded by a surveillance camera. Missel had entered a blind plea March 8, 2024.

When offered a chance to speak at sentencing Friday, Missel apologized for her conduct and acknowledged the incident forced her to address a struggle with alcoholism. She told Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. she has been continuously sober since the gun incident.

“This is just part of God’s plan for me,” Missel said. “That night saved my life, but it also could have taken another’s.”

She added later, “My life has done a complete 180 and I am not the same person. A part of me died that night.”

Public Defender Ryan Hamer asked for a minimum sentence, citing Missel’s now-lengthy sobriety – “She’s done everything in her power to make things better” – and saying the facts and circumstances of the case “are so unusual and so unlikely to reoccur.”

“What she did was certainly reckless and dumb,” Hamer said, “but I don’t think it was intentional conduct.”

Prosector Matt Kidder asked for 4½ years, citing a “lengthy” criminal record that had worsened in recent years and included aggravated battery to a peace officer. Kidder pointed out Missel was on probation and should not have been at a tavern, let alone handling a weapon in a public venue.

“This isn’t a situation where the gun was in a glove box,” Kidder said. “It went off and in a place where she shouldn’t have been in the first place.”

Kidder also asked the judge for a deterrent sentence, saying a recent spree of violence – the county has several pending murders and shots-fired cases – demands prison time for those who use firearms and shouldn’t have them.

“I’ve been here for a long time and in the last 18 months or so there’s been a lot of gun violence,” Kidder said. “This is certainly a situation where a message needs to be sent that lawful gun ownership is something we encourage; but illegal, reckless gun ownership is something we need to discourage.”

The judge settled on a prison term above the minimum. Ryan also ruled the gun would be destroyed, even though it belonged not to Missel but to Mondy.

Mondy, who had a finger injury when the gun went off, had brought a .380-caliber pistol into the tavern despite a concealed carry prohibition. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense and was placed on conditional discharge.

La Salle County State’s Attorney Joe Navarro, an outspoken supporter of the Second Amendment, said it was past time for a deterrent sentence on the reckless handling of a firearm by someone who shouldn’t have been handling one in the first place.

“When I saw the video the first time, I was really upset,” Navarro said. “This could have been a lot worse. It could have easily killed someone.

“What we’ve said from the beginning is alcohol and guns don’t mix.”