A Wisconsin man has pleaded guilty to killing a young teen in her home late last year.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 26-year-old Isaac Barnes was arrested in connection with the shooting death of 13-year-old Sandra Parks as she was watching television in her Milwaukee home in November.
According to an ex-girlfriend, she was the intended target of the shooting, according to Fox News.
Instead, Barnes admitted in court that he gunned down Parks as part of a plea deal that dropped a charge of witness intimidation and resulted in convictions on counts including reckless homicide in the first degree, endangering safety by recklessly using a firearm, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
He is set to be sentenced in August. While prosecutors are recommending a prison sentence, Assistant District Attorney Hanna Kolberg said her office will defer to the judge in the case regarding a specific term.
As for the victim’s mother, Bernice Parks thinks the statutory maximum — 85 years behind bars — is justified. But Barnes insisted as part of his deal with prosecutors that he would be allowed to explain the circumstances behind what he says was the unintentional death of her daughter.
“That’s the only way I will admit to what I did,” he said. “I just don’t want them to go home just thinking it just happened.”
The shooting occurred just two years after the victim won a contest for her essay denouncing “senseless gun violence” in her community.
[Featured image: Sandra Parks, handout]
