Updated Monday, Feb. 13
Kenosha---Authorities are trying to determine whether the death of a 23 year-old man at the hands of his 15 year-old cousin Saturday night was accidental or intentional.
Family members told reporters outside of a courtroom Monday that the shooting was an accident, but a prosecutor said in court minutes later that one witness had described the shooting as intentional. Assistant Kenosha County District Attorney Erica Rienke also said that many questions remained unanswered.
Following the hearing, Commissioner Dave Berman sent the 15 year-old back to detention, and scheduled another court appearance for Wednesday.
The victim, according to his father, was in a wheelchair at the time of the shooting, having been paralyzed two years ago as an inmate in the Kenosha County Detention Center when guards had tried to restrain him. The father didn't want to be named Monday, and police have yet to identify the victim.
The gun had been out in the Wilson neighborhood apartment where the shooting occurred Saturday night because of concerns over a shots fired incident that had taken place at a family member's home on the other side of town the day before, according to the father.
People inside the apartment Saturday night had been using drugs, according to Rienke.
The 15 year-old is already on juvenile probation for retail theft.
In a separate matter, police executed a search warrant Sunday northeast of Lincoln Park in the 6500 blk. of 18th St. and came away with quantities of heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Two people were arrested.
Police said the raid and arrests were part of the investigation into a recent spike in heroin overdoses that resulted in a fatality.
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