A Wisconsin teen will spend just shy of a decade behind bars for an unintentional shooting that left a child dead, a court has determined.

In June, Javier Rodriguez, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide in the second degree for the 2024 death of 10-year-old Isdennyeliz Ortiz.

On Thursday, the defendant was sentenced by a judge in Milwaukee County to 10 years in prison. He will receive credit for just under 14 months spent in pretrial detention. The defendant will also spend eight years on supervised release after his sentence is complete.

The incident occurred on May 31, 2024, at a split-level, three-story house on West Orchard Street on Milwaukee’s south side.

All of the residents of the building were related, police said.

Isdennyeliz was in her mother’s bed when a bullet entered through the ceiling around 12:40 a.m. – striking and killing her as she slept.

The girl’s mother told police her nephew came down the stairs and explained that he had been playing with a gun when it accidentally discharged, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Milwaukee-based Fox affiliate WITI and NBC affiliate WTMJ.

The teenager – who was 18 years old at the time of the shooting – left before police arrived. He was arrested and charged a few days later.

Prosecutors alleged Rodriguez was on the top floor of the building when the gun went off. The fatal bullet is said to have traveled through a couch cushion before going through the floor and ceiling of the upper unit where the defendant lived. Finally, Isdennyeliz was struck in the chest – her mother and baby brother in bed beside her.

The complaint offers the girl’s final 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 the fatal shot was fired – addressing the girl’s mother. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

The victim’s 14-year-old sister recalled something substantially similar being said by the defendant as he bounded down the stairs and met them, according to the complaint: “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I did it.”

The defendant’s grandmother offered 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 by way of security camera footage. Immediately prior to the shooting, Rodriguez, his father, and a third person were seen outside in a parking area near an above-ground swimming pool. Police say the defendant is visibly carrying a “tan firearm” and wearing “a blue rubber glove” in the video and appears to walk inside through a back door with the third person. And then, some 44 seconds into the footage, 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 complaint goes on. “His grandfather comes into camera view and the defendant says something to him before the clips stops.”

Investigators also said a shot had previously been fired within the residence – roughly a month prior to the fatal shooting. This first bullet did not strike anyone and traveled from the upper floor into the living room of the residence on the first floor, the complaint says.

Several firearms were found at the Rodriguez residence during the ensuing investigation, according to the Milwaukee Police Department.

“In a closet they found a satchel with a cross-body strap,” the complaint reads. “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.”

Before taking a plea deal, Rodriguez faced a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.