Man to spend at least 15 years in prison for 3-year-old's shooting outside Detroit gas station

London Muldrow shot in head

Exel Taylor at his sentencing on Sept. 13, 2018. (WDIV)

DETROIT – A man who pleaded guilty to charges in connection to the shooting of a 3-year-old girl in Detroit will now spend at least 15 years in prison. 

London Muldrow, 3, was shot in the head when she was sitting in her mother's vehicle on April 7. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said Exel Taylor, 24, was arguing with a 28-year-old man inside the gas station in the 15900 block of Livernois in Detroit. The argument continued outside where it became physical. Shots were fired at about 2:46 p.m. outside the gas station. 

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Taylor allegedly went to his car, pulled out a gun and began firing at the man. One of those bullets struck London in the head as she was sitting in her mother's vehicle. 

Police said Taylor ran to a nearby Valero and called a friend to pick him up. They were both arrested blocks away from the shooting scene. A weapon was recovered.

Taylor was charged with three counts of assault with intent to commit murder, carrying a concealed weapon in a motor vehicle, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent and felony firearms violations.

He pleaded guilty as charged in August and was sentenced on Thursday. He will spend 15 to 30 years in prison for the shooting.

Taylor spoke to Judge Ulysses Boykin before his sentencing, claiming it was an accident and that he never knew London was in the vehicle when he fired the gunshots. He said he feared for his own safety and for the safety of two other people he was with. 

Boykin said it didn't matter if Taylor had no knowledge of a child being the vehicle or who he intended to shoot that day. 

"When you took that gun in your hands and started firing, the gun only shoots where it's pointed ... your culpability is not reduced by the fact that you did not intend to shoot her. You intended to shoot somebody," said Boykin. 

London's mother also offered a victim impact statement. She said she forgave Taylor for his actions because she couldn't focus on being angry at him while she had to take care of her daughter.

London was released from the hospital in May and continues to recover. 

London Muldrow (WDIV)

Watch the full sentencing hearing with Taylor's statement and the victim impact statements here:Â