Montco Mom Gets Jail Time In Connection With Child's Shooting Death

UPPER PROVIDENCE, PA — A local woman will be spending up to a year behind bars after she pleaded guilty to child endangerment in connection with a case in which her son fatally shot her daughter after the defendant asked the boy to retrieve her handgun for her from her vehicle.

Daisy Vasquez, 32, of Collegeville, Pa., pleaded guilty this week to charges of endangering the welfare of children and criminal attempt-possession of a firearm by minor, both felonies.

Vasquez was sentenced in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to 90 days to 12 months in prison in connection with her guilty pleas, court records show.

Prosecutors announced charges against Vasquez back in March 2021 after her 13-year-old son, Jah'sir, accidentally shot and killed his sister, 12-year-old Jasiyah, after Vasquez asked the boy to go to her car and retrieve her handgun for her, Patch previously reported.

Related: Montco Mom Charged In Connection With Daughter's Shooting Death

Related: Brother Charged In Fatal Shooting Of Montco Girl, 12: DA

Late last year, Patch reported that the case against Jah'sir was subsequently moved to juvenile court after the boy had originally been charged as an adult in connection with the fatal shooting.

Court records show that Vasquez received her sentence on Wednesday by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Risa Vetri Ferman, who also ordered the defendant to report to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in early July to begin serving her sentence.

In addition to the jail time, records show that Vasquez was also given up to four years of probation once she is released from custody. She will also have to undergo eight-and-one-months of house arrest immediately following her release.

Records show that in exchange for her guilty plea, other criminal charges had been dropped against Vasquez. They included both felony and misdemeanor counts.

A story in the Pottstown Mercury said that Vasquez wept in court this week after receiving her sentence, with the mother stating that she was unaware that the gun she asked her son to retrieve was loaded at the time.

"He didn't shoot my daughter, my gun went off," Vasquez was quoted as saying about her son.

News reports said that the boy, now 14, admitted to his actions during a juvenile court proceeding in January and was given a sentence of probation for involuntary manslaughter, after prosecutors concluded the shooting was unintentional.

The probationary period may last up until the time the boy is 21 years old.

Montgomery County prosecutors previously stated that the investigation began back on March 19, 2021, after police were called to a reported shooting at a home on Larchwood Court in Upper Providence Township.

Responding officers discovered the 12-year-old girl lying on the living room floor with a single gunshot wound to the chest.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors said that investigators determined that Vasquez had asked her son to go outside to her car and retrieve her legally owned 9 mm handgun and bring it to her inside the home.

Surveillance video from the home showed Jah'sir entering the house with the handgun in his right hand and then pointing it in his sister's direction, at which time the gun discharged, and the girl was seen collapsing.

Prosecutors said that Vasquez subsequently lied to detectives about the events that led up to the shooting, and that the video of the shooting depicted what had really occurred.

At the time of the arrest, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele chastised Vasquez, saying that parents have the responsibility to keep guns out of the hands of their children.