A Coatesville teen was sentenced to probation in the accidental shooting death of his 4-year-old brother
Victor Lara-Ortiz tearfully apologized for leaving his loaded gun unsecured in the family home, where his younger brother picked it up and accidentally shot himself.
A Coatesville teenager who left a loaded gun unsecured in the family home, where his 4-year-old brother picked it up and accidentally shot himself, was sentenced Tuesday to house arrest and five years of probation.
Victor Lara-Ortiz, 18, pleaded guilty in November to involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, and gun offenses. Trembling with emotion and embraced by his mother, Lara-Ortiz told Chester County Court Judge Analisa Sondergaard on Tuesday that he takes “full responsibility” for the death of his brother, Roman, who accidentally fired the handgun that Lara-Ortiz had left on his nightstand.
“I am aware and saddened by the fact that I put my mother and family through so much pain,” Lara-Ortiz said. “My careless actions got the best of me.”
Sondergaard, in handing down her sentence, said she had faith that Lara-Ortiz, who she said had been “on a bad path” at the time of the shooting after being expelled from high school for fighting, had turned his life around.
“As stupid teenagers do, this defendant did not comprehend the great responsibility that comes with gun ownership,” the judge said.
She drew on testimony presented by his defense attorney that Lara-Ortiz was remorseful and dedicated to finishing high school and pursuing a college education.
“Without minimizing the defendant’s dangerous behaviors, this court believes that jail is not the place for this defendant,” Sondergaard said. “I want you to graduate. I want you to have dreams. I want you to succeed.”
In February 2022, police were called to the home Lara-Ortiz shared with his mother and two brothers on Chestnut Street in Coatesville for a report of a shooting, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
There, officers found Roman in Lara-Ortiz’s bedroom, shot once in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A Glock handgun with one spent shell casing was found at the boy’s feet.
In an interview with detectives, Lara-Ortiz admitted the gun was his and said he often left it unholstered and unsecured in his bedroom, according to the affidavit. But he would not tell investigators how, or where, he had obtained the gun.
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Detectives, using a database maintained by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, discovered that the Glock used in the shooting had been purchased two weeks earlier at a gun store in Lancaster County, the affidavit said. The purchaser, William Thomas, 32, was unable to legally buy guns because of a conviction for simple assault, but lied to conceal that record, prosecutors said.
Thomas was separately charged with illegally transferring a firearm, as well as making unsworn false statements for lying to clerks at the store where he bought the gun. His criminal case is pending.
Lara-Ortiz’s attorney, Troy Crichton, called the child’s death “an absolute tragedy,” and said the teen is haunted every day by his actions. Crichton presented testimony from multiple witnesses who have worked with Lara-Ortiz at various nonprofits in the year since his brother’s death, including a social worker who said he suffers from PTSD and depression.
The witnesses told Sondergaard Lara-Ortiz had made a complete turnaround, was dedicated to his studies and future, and had made the honor roll for the first time in his life at his current school.
Despite the teen’s penitence, Deputy Assistant District Attorney Erin O’Brien asked Sondergaard to sentence him to some jail time, noting the impact the crime had on his family and community.
“The commonwealth wants him to succeed in life,” O’Brien said. “But the commonwealth doesn’t want to say that just because he feels badly he is absolved of any responsibility for his actions.”
O’Brien said Lara-Ortiz sought the gun in an misguided attempt to “be cool or show off,” and tried to honor “the code of the streets” by hiding how he obtained it from law enforcement officials. At one point, she said, Lara-Ortiz fired the gun while riding around the county in a car, showing his disregard for others.
Sondergaard was not swayed, and granted Crichton’s request to have the teen avoid time behind bars.