A Wisconsin teen will spend just shy of a decade in prison for an unintentional shooting that killed a child, a court has ruled.
Javier Rodriguez, 19, pleaded guilty in June to one count of second-degree reckless homicide in the death of 10-year-old Isdennyeliz Ortiz.
On Thursday, a Milwaukee County judge sentenced the defendant to ten years in prison. He will be given credit for just under 14 months spent in pretrial detention. Following the completion of his sentence, the defendant will serve eight years of supervised release.
The incident took place on May 31, 2024, at a three-story split-level house on Milwaukee’s south side called West Orchard Street.
Police said that all of the building’s residents were related.
Around 12:40 a.m., Isdennyeliz was sleeping in her mother’s bed when a bullet entered through the ceiling, striking and killing her.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Milwaukee-based Fox affiliate WITI and NBC affiliate WTMJ, the girl’s mother reported to police that her nephew came down the stairs and explained that he had been playing with a gun when it accidentally discharged.
The teenager, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, fled before officers arrived. He was arrested and charged several days later.
Prosecutors claimed Rodriguez was on the top floor of the building when the gun went off. According to reports, the fatal bullet passed through a couch cushion before striking the defendant’s upper unit’s floor and ceiling. Finally, Isdennyeliz was struck in the chest, with her mother and baby brother in bed beside her.
The complaint describes the girl’s last moments from her mother’s perspective:
She heard [Isdennyeliz] say “ouch.” She asked [Isdennyeliz] if she was alright and shook her, but she received no response, so she turned on the light. She then saw that [Isdennyeliz] had been shot in the chest and was bleeding. She saw a fresh bullet hole in the ceiling.
“It’s my fault,” Rodriguez said after firing the fatal shot, addressing the girl’s mother. “I apologize.” “Please forgive me.”
According to the complaint, the victim’s 14-year-old sister recalled the defendant saying something substantially similar as he bounded down the stairs and met them: “I’m sorry.” It is my fault. “I did it.”
The defendant’s grandmother provided the following narrative:
She said she was sleeping in the basement unit with her husband when her grandson, the defendant, suddenly came into the room asking if they were OK. A couple minutes later her son, the defendant’s father, came into the room and told her that a tragedy had occurred, explaining that the defendant had been playing with a gun when it accidentally discharged and shot [Isdennyeliz].
Law enforcement identified the defendant using security camera footage. Prior to the shooting, Rodriguez, his father, and a third person were seen in a parking lot near an above-ground swimming pool. According to police, the defendant is seen in the video carrying a “tan firearm” and wearing “a blue rubber glove” as he walks inside through a back door with a third person. Then, 44 seconds into the video, a “loud bang” is heard.
“Footage from a clip starting at 12:45:08 shows the defendant, shirtless, frantically running back and forth through the rear area,” the filed complaint states. “His grandfather comes into camera view and the defendant says something to him before the clips stops.”
Investigators also stated that a shot had been fired within the residence approximately a month prior to the fatal shooting. According to the complaint, the first bullet did not strike anyone and traveled from the upper floor to the first-floor living room.
Several firearms were discovered at the Rodriguez home during the subsequent investigation, according to the Milwaukee Police Department.
“In a closet, they discovered a satchel with a cross-body strap,” the complaint states. “Inside the satchel was a loaded black 9mm Taurus semi-automatic pistol, a loaded green 9mm Taurus semi-automatic pistol, a loaded tan 9mm Springfield semi-automatic pistol, a 50-round capacity drum magazine loaded with 39 rounds of 9mm ammunition, and two loaded 10-round capacity magazines for 9mm pistols.”
Rodriguez faced a maximum prison sentence of 25 years before agreeing to a plea deal.
