On a Tuesday morning in Puyallup, Washington, 18-year-old Sabrena Defreece was at a friend’s house on the 900 block of 18th Avenue Southwest, listening to music and dancing as they got ready for the day. Moments later, on December 8, 2015, she was in a bedroom with 19-year-old Joshua Jeffrey Roberts when he handled a handgun that discharged, striking and killing her. Police arrived around 7 a.m. and found Sabrena deceased; Roberts, who lived at the home, was taken into custody. Two other people were in the house at the time.

Roberts told detectives he did not believe the gun was loaded. He was initially booked on suspicion of second-degree murder; charges were later amended to first-degree manslaughter and unlawful possession of a firearm because of prior felony convictions. Roberts pleaded guilty. At sentencing Sabrena’s mother, Marcella Cartwright, asked the judge for leniency, said she forgave Roberts, and expressed a wish that he salvage his life in her daughter’s memory. Questions remain for anyone who was at the house that morning or knew the events leading up to the shooting—did anyone see how the firearm came to be handled in the bedroom?