A Macomb County jury convicted a St. Clair Shores man of the lesser offense of assault with intent to do great bodily harm in the shooting of his brother during a family reunion at an Eastpointe park.

The seven-man, five-woman panel deliberated about 90 minutes Friday morning before finding Kevin Deon Jones, 49, guilty of the assault charge and six weapons charge for the August 2023 shooting of Sydney Brooks II, 41, at Kennedy Park. The jury rejected an attempted-murder charge sought by county prosecutors.

The verdicts followed a three-day trial in front of Judge Anthony Servitto.

Jones’ attorney, Joe Kosmala, said while an acquittal on the shooting offense was preferable, he was pleased the jury “probably came up with the right verdict.”

“He really had no intent to kill,” Kosmala said of his client. “He had opportunities to do that.”

As the gathering was ending at about 8 p.m. Aug. 12, 2023, Jones approached Brooks in the parking lot, pointed a gun to his face at close range with his left hand and slapped him in the face with his right hand. Brooks grabbed his brothers’ shoulders and pushed him backward on to the pavement. Brooks and eyewitness Shonte Pitts said Jones fired three shots while the pair were still upward, although Kosmala, backed by one witness, maintained the shots were fired after Brooks was choking him on the ground.

Brooks survived two shots below his right armpit and one to his right side. One of the armpit-area bullets exited, and two remain in his body, he said.

The incident happened in front of Brooks’ 6-year-old daughter as well as a cousin and nephew of Brooks, according to testimony.

During the trial, Kosmala argued self-defense, noting Jones had a “split second” to react Brooks pushing him and was much smaller in size to Brooks’ weight of over 300 pounds and height of 6 feet.

Macomb prosecutors could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

Despite the acquittal on the highest charge, when he is sentenced June 5, Jones likely faces several years in prison mostly due to prior convictions.

He faces a five-year mandatory term for second offense felony firearm possession and the 10-year maximum term on the assault charge will double due to Jones’ fourth-habitual status.

Still, he avoided the likelihood of spending the rest of his life in prison because the attempted murder charge carried a mandatory penalty of 25 years due to his habitual status, up to life, Kosmala said, and it would have been added to the five-year term.

In addition to the three felony-firearm counts, Jones was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon, felon in possession of a firearm and felon in possession of ammunition.

The shooting followed an incident four months earlier at a another family gathering in Detroit when Jones threatened to kill Brooks, who pushed Jones to the ground outside the house and pulled out a handgun from his waistband because he said he believed Jones was running to his pickup truck to retrieve a gun.

The men’s aunt, Arnetha Smith, 59, who traveled from Atlanta for the trial, testified the half brothers “didn’t see eye to eye” going back to an issue years ago.

This case was the second time Jones was accused of trying to kill someone. He pleaded no contest in 2006 in Wayne County Circuit Court to attempted murder and felony firearm possession and was sentenced to nine years for the main charge and another two years for felony firearm, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He was discharged in 2018.

He was convicted by plea in 2000 in Wayne County of illegal possession of a credit card and delivery or manufacture of less than 50 grams of cocaine and was sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison, records say.

Most recently, he served two years in prison following his conviction by plea for third-offense drunk driving, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon in Macomb Circuit Court for a 2020 incident, according to records. He was discharged in May 2023.

Jones’ wife and a few other family members attended the trial.