A Bowling Green man serving a five-year prison sentence on charges stemming from a 2020 argument outside a liquor store that involved shots fired has requested shock probation.

Malik Brown, 21, is incarcerated after having pleaded guilty in August to two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

Brown had originally been charged with attempted murder and 12 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment before reaching a plea agreement.

The criminal charges resulted from an investigation into a Dec. 2, 2020, incident in which Brown reportedly became involved in a verbal dispute with the owners of E-Z Money Pawn and Jewelry and E-Z Liquor on Clay Street.

According to court records, the dispute happened after an employee at the drive-through window asked for identification when Brown pulled up and tried to buy a beer.

Brown and another person later returned to the store parking lot in separate vehicles and got into a physical confrontation with the store owners, and court records indicate that Brown returned to the scene once more and fired three shots out of the passenger side window of the vehicle across the parking lot as it traveled by the business.

Brown appeared Monday in Warren Circuit Court with attorney Alan Simpson to request shock probation, a form of early release available to most first-time offenders convicted of low-level crimes.

Simpson said that, if Brown were to be released, he would have several options for entering the workforce.

Two of Brown’s sisters testified, saying that their brother could act as a caretaker for his grandmother in Nashville, or could find work at a restaurant where he was previously employed or a caretaker business started by his mother.

Addressing Warren Circuit Judge John Grise, Brown requested a chance to turn his life around, saying that seeing inmates return to jail on repeat offenses during his incarceration has motivated him to want to improve his life.

“Right now, I’m the black sheep of my family, but if I get a chance to get out, I know I can change that,” Brown said, adding that he let his emotions get the best of him in the incident that led to his conviction.

Simpson said in court that the store employees involved in the incident had a hand in exacerbating the situation.

“Nothing excuses (Brown) firing his gun, but grown men who knew better than to let this get to where it got were using racial epithets that should not be used in any forum against him,” Simpson said.

A previous motion for shock probation was denied by Grise in December