Shooting on Milwaukee's south side, man charged with negligent homicide

MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man is charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with a September 9 shooting in the city's south side.

Prosecutors accuse 29-year-old Jayson Rivera-Montalvo of the death of his girlfriend.

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Shooting scene

It happened near the corner of 24th and National, south of Mitchell Park. Police said the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. She had a gunshot wound to her head and a gun was lying on a bed next to her. The medical examiner identified her as 39-year-old Natalie Ramos-Rodriguez.

Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)

The gun had no rounds in the barrel and no magazine in it. A detective later found a magazine near the bedroom door. A single shell casing was found on a dresser in the bedroom and a preliminary forensic examination determined it was fired from the gun found next to the victim.

Prosecutors said a 20-year-old man and two 15-year-old girls were also in the house at the time. One of them said she heard a “loud bang” before hearing Rivera-Montalvo say, “It was an accident.” A witness said Rivera-Montalvo was pale as he ran out of the house.

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According to the complaint, the 20-year-old ran after Rivera-Montalvo, but eventually gave up following Rivera-Montalvo and went back to the house. The 20-year-old then found the victim and called police.

Rivera-Montalvo had bought the gun on the street a few days before the shooting, the complaint says. Witnesses told police he had been “irresponsible with the gun” and had been “playing around with it” since he got it.

In custody

Prosecutors said Rivera-Montalvo told investigators he was making the bed — shaking out the blankets — when the gun fell off the bed, hit the floor and went off. He said he “panicked and ran away” when he saw the victim had been shot.

According to the complaint, investigators found it “unlikely” that the gun went off when it hit the ground, as Rivera-Montalvo described. Police said when this type of weapon is fired, the magazine automatically and immediately feeds another round into the chamber. Instead, they concluded, Rivera-Montalvo removed the magazine before firing the gun and “probably believed there was no live round in the barrel” when he pulled the trigger while the gun was pointed at the victim's head.

Court records show Rivera-Montalvo is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on $75,000 bail.