Judge sentences shooter of 12-year-old girl who 'stared' at him to 22 years in prison
Benjamin Garrett pleaded guilty in the death of Olivia Schultz in October 2022
Benjamin Garrett pleaded guilty in the death of Olivia Schultz in October 2022
Benjamin Garrett pleaded guilty in the death of Olivia Schultz in October 2022
A man guilty of killing a 12-year-old because her family "stared" at him will have to spend 22 years in prison.
Benjamin Garrett, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide.
Police said he shot Olivia Schultz in front of her mother, Celeste Wilson, in an alley in October.
The shooting happened near 37th Street and Rohr Avenue in Milwaukee.
Investigators said the family was unloading groceries when they looked at two masked teens in the alley. One of them was Garrett.
"I'm supposed to protect my family members and things like that. And that day, I fell short," Darryl Schultz, Olivia's father, said in court Thursday.
Prosecutors said both teens eventually walked away from the family but then turned around and opened fire injuring Wilson and killing Olivia.
"This is what is has come down to. You can't even look at anybody, or you may get shot," Judge Glenn Yamahiro said during Thursday' sentencing.
Garrett did apologize in court for his actions.
"I caused the death of an innocent human being, an innocent young girl, a young innocent girl I can never bring back. I think about this every day. That is something I will never be able to forget. This will be with me the rest of my life," he said.
Following the sentencing, Olivia's mom called it "a little bit of justice."
"Because no matter what happened in there, I still got to go home and know she is not there," Wilson said.
Prosecutors also charged now-17-year-old Cornell Henard, who was with Garrett, with first-degree reckless homicide because investigators do not know which bullet killed Olivia.
His trial is scheduled to bring at the end of July.