A judge immediately sentenced a man to five years in prison after he pleaded no contest in a case where a 4-year-old boy found a shotgun in a car and accidentally shot his mother.
Norwalk man Brandon Gilbert Ambriz, 24, pleaded no contest to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, Deputy District Attorney Chad Gillette said.
Prosecutors said Ambriz left the shotgun in a vehicle in which children were regularly driven.
Authorities said the boy found Ambriz’s shotgun in the backseat of his mother’s car on the afternoon of Jan. 23 and shot her in her mid-body through the back of the driver’s seat. Paramedics transported the woman to the hospital in critical condition, but she was later upgraded to fair condition.
The three children in the backseat, another woman and young child who sat in the front passenger seat were not injured in the incident, police said.