A second Wisconsin woman has been sentenced in connection with a shooting that left a 9-year-old girl wounded after she and another adult left four young children alone in a Milwaukee apartment.
Vanta’jah Westmoreland, 24, pleaded guilty to three counts of being party to a crime of child neglect. She was sentenced to two years of probation. Westmoreland was identified as the girlfriend of 29-year-old Nakia Piggee, the mother of the girl who was shot.
The incident occurred on November 8, 2024, when the two women left a 9-year-old, an 8-year-old, a 4-year-old, and a 2-year-old with disabilities alone in the apartment for roughly 40 minutes while they went grocery shopping.
Police were called after Piggee reported the shooting. Officers arrived to find the 9-year-old lying on the living room floor with a gunshot wound to her upper back. She was conscious but struggling to breathe, and an officer applied emergency aid before she was rushed to the hospital. She survived.
When questioned, the girl pointed toward the 4-year-old boy in the room. Investigators later learned a neighbor had removed the firearm from the apartment after the shooting.
A search of the home revealed unsanitary conditions, along with a spent shell casing, a bloodstained shirt, and a blanket near a crib where the 2-year-old, who had medical equipment attached, was found. The handgun was eventually located in a neighboring apartment.
Statements from the children conflicted over who had handled the weapon, with the 4-year-old and 8-year-old each pointing to the other. Authorities noted there were no safety devices, such as a lock or gun safe, securing the firearm.
Piggee, who told police the gun had been left under a mattress, previously pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor child neglect charges in April 2025 and also received probation.
The case has drawn attention to the dangers of unsecured firearms in homes with young children.
