Man gets 10 years for boy’s shooting death
MIAMI (AP) – A South Florida man fatally shot an 11-year-old boy while firing into an abandoned couch to celebrate the New Year has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
A Miami-Dade judge sentenced Zenon Fernandez on Friday. He was convicted of manslaughter in October for the 2007 death of Joshua Arroliga.
Fernandez, of Opa-locka, fired into a couch by a garbage big, about 25 feet from an apartment building, on Dec. 31, 2007. The boy was hiding behind the couch in a game of hide-and-seek.
Five of the bullets hit and killed the child.
Fernandez apologized to the boy’s family at his hearing Friday, repeating that he hadn’t seen any children playing in the area and had no idea anyone was behind the couch.