By M10News US Crime Desk | August 2, 2025
A 19-year-old man from Milwaukee has been sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for the fatal accidental shooting of a 10-year-old girl as she slept in her mother’s bed.
Javier Rodriguez was handed a 10-year prison sentence on Thursday by a Milwaukee County judge after pleading guilty in June to second-degree reckless homicide in the 2024 death of Isdennyeliz Ortiz.
He will receive credit for just under 14 months already served in pretrial custody and will be placed on eight years of supervised release following his incarceration.
The tragic incident occurred in the early hours of May 31, 2024, at a multi-level family residence on West Orchard Street in Milwaukee’s south side, where all occupants were reportedly related.
Isdennyeliz was asleep beside her mother and baby brother when a bullet pierced the ceiling and struck her in the chest shortly after midnight.
According to the criminal complaint, Rodriguez, then 18, told relatives he had been handling a firearm when it accidentally discharged. He fled the scene before police arrived but was arrested several days later.
Authorities said the fatal shot originated from the top floor, where Rodriguez had been sitting on a couch with the firearm. The bullet passed through a cushion, then through the floor, into the ceiling of the unit below, where it fatally wounded the child.
The girl’s mother recounted hearing her daughter softly say “ouch” before realising she had been shot.
“She asked her if she was alright and shook her, but received no response,” the complaint stated. “She turned on the light and saw that her daughter had been shot in the chest and was bleeding. She saw a fresh bullet hole in the ceiling.”
Rodriguez reportedly admitted fault immediately after the shooting. “It’s my fault,” he said to the girl’s mother. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
The child’s 14-year-old sister told investigators she also heard the defendant say something similar as he came down the stairs.
Rodriguez’s grandmother said she was sleeping in the basement with her husband when the teen entered, asking if they were okay. Minutes later, Rodriguez’s father came in and revealed the shooting had occurred.
Investigators later used surveillance footage to identify Rodriguez. In video captured just before the incident, he was seen carrying a tan firearm and wearing a blue rubber glove. Roughly 44 seconds later, a gunshot could be heard.
Additional footage showed the teen shirtless, moving frantically around the back of the property.
Police also discovered that a shot had been fired inside the same residence about a month earlier. That bullet travelled through the upper floor but did not injure anyone.
During a search of the property, officers recovered multiple loaded firearms, including three semi-automatic pistols and a drum magazine with 39 rounds of 9mm ammunition.
A plea deal spared Rodriguez a possible 25-year prison sentence. Instead, he will serve 10 years behind bars, followed by nearly a decade of supervised release.
Editing by M10News US Desk | Contact: usnews@m10news.com
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