Late on Sunday, September 3, 2017, 20-year-old Connor Stephens was shot in the chest during a gathering of friends in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

Investigators quickly identified an 18-year-old friend, Jeremiah Solis, as the person who fired the gun. Authorities concluded the shooting was not intentional but resulted from mishandling a handgun Solis had bought two days earlier. Solis had been drinking and had used marijuana; believing the gun was unloaded, he pointed it and pulled the trigger, sending a single fatal bullet into Stephens. The police chief called it a heartbreaking case of negligence and a failure to follow basic gun safety.

Solis was arrested and charged with homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon, pleaded no contest, and in June 2019 was sentenced to one year in jail as part of a sentence that included probation. Connor Stephens’ death was described by the judge as an unspeakable tragedy and a preventable accident.