PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The young teen who shot and killed his 12-year-old sister went before a judge on Friday to learn his fate, just a day shy of the one-year anniversary of the shooting.
Jah’sir Vasquez, now 14, admitted to involuntary manslaughter and was given probation with several terms attached to it, including a prohibition on seeing his mother, community service, anger management, and therapy.
“I think it ended the way it should have ended," his lawyer Frank Genovese said.
"There was never any intent on Jah'sir's part, to do his sister or anybody any harm that day."
Vasquez was 13 when, on the morning of March 18, 2021, his mother told him to go out to her car and get her gun.
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When he came back into the Perkiomen Woods townhome on Larchwood Court in Collegeville, he pointed the gun at his sister and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the 12-year-old in the chest and killed her.
Vasquez said he didn’t think the gun would fire because the clip wasn’t in it. However, there was a bullet in the chamber.
Genovese said there was never any intent to hurt anyone, and that it was a tragic mistake.
“He was actually just kind of doing what his mother had asked her instructed him to do as far as going and getting her gun out of her car, having no idea that it was loaded, let alone really having any knowledge of the workings of a firearm of that nature," Genovese said.
Vasquez was initially charged as an adult with murder, but the case was moved to juvenile court. He is barred from seeing his other siblings, though the judge said that requirement could be lifted if his therapist and guardians agree.
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Genovese said Vasquez has been doing well living with his aunt and uncle.
"They made sure he got on the right path and stayed on it as far as schooling is concerned, getting counseling started, and having that loving, stable environment. He's in a much better place now.”
His mother, Daisy Vasquez, is awaiting trial on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and providing false information to the police.
In earlier testimony, a police officer said when he got to the home on Larchwood Court, the girl was lying alone on the stairs with no signs of life. Daisy Vasquez was upstairs in the bedroom with the gun under a pillow.