CANTON — The North Canton man who fired numerous shots through the walls of his apartment in October 2025, severely wounding a neighboring mother of three, pleaded guilty Friday, Oct. 16 and was sentenced to 15 to 17 1/2 years in prison under a plea agreement in Stark County Common Pleas Court.
Brian K. Francisco II, 39, withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity to take the deal, just days before his trial was scheduled to start Monday, Oct. 19 before Judge Taryn Heath. He has been held for more than a year at the Stark County Jail, and that time will count as credit toward his sentence.
The shooting happened Oct. 9, 2025, at the Versailles Gardens Apartments at 175 Applegrove Street NE in North Canton. Prosecutors said Francisco fired through the walls of his apartment into the adjoining unit, striking a 35-year-old woman in the leg and abdomen while her toddler daughter was present. Three North Canton police officers and a paramedic who responded came under fire as they pulled the wounded woman out through a bedroom window and into an ambulance that rushed her to surgery.
Nearly two hours after the woman was shot, a SWAT team drawn from multiple agencies breached Francisco’s apartment and removed him without firing a shot, while residents of nearby apartments were urged to evacuate. Police said Francisco had an AR-style gun, a handgun and ammunition inside the apartment.
A Stark County grand jury’s superseding indictment on Sept. 2 charged Francisco with seven counts of felonious assault, three felony counts of improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation and inducing panic, along with 10 standard three-year firearm specifications and three seven-year firearm specifications for firing at a police officer. His attorney, Anthony Rich, said Francisco had faced a maximum sentence of more than 152 years if convicted on all counts at trial.
Rich told the court his client, a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair, was significantly affected by mental health issues on the day of the shooting. A family member has said Francisco suffered from bipolar disorder and had not been properly managing his medications at the time. “This act was not intentional by Brian. He didn’t seek to harm anybody,” Rich said. “He’s a good person at heart. And I can say he’s absolutely sorry for what happened.”
Francisco was found competent to stand trial in January, then pursued the insanity defense through a series of psychological evaluations, including a second opinion granted by Judge Chryssa Hartnett in February and a third evaluation approved later. Rich said he could not disclose the results of those evaluations. All of the victims, including the wounded mother, were notified of the plea agreement, and none chose to address the court at Friday’s sentencing hearing. The Stark County Prosecutor’s Office offered no additional comment.