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Independence, MO —
The Kansas City man who admitted to firing the gunshots that killed an Independence girl on the Fourth of July was sentenced to three years in prison.
Aaron Sullivan, 50, charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 11-year-old Blair Shanahan Lane, appeared in court Friday before Circuit Judge John Torrence. Because the weapon belonged to Sullivan, he was the one charged.
Sullivan, who owned the gun, acknowledged that he fired it and allowed others to fire it on the night of July 4, 2011.
Court documents showed that Sullivan and others were having a holiday celebration at a Kansas City apartment complex. During the festivities, Sullivan and others fired the .900 mm Glock into the air.
Blair, a student at Nativity of Mary Catholic School in Independence, was visiting near the complex at the same time and was killed by an errant bullet that struck her in the neck.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker last year urged legislators to pass “Blair’s Law,” which would make discharging a firearm in city limits a felony, with some exceptions.
Blair was a Girl Scout and an active member in Girls on the Run. In her memory, the Blair’s Foster Socks Foundation was created to fulfill one of her ambitions, which was to provide socks for foster children.
The Kansas City man who admitted to firing the gunshots that killed an Independence girl on the Fourth of July was sentenced to three years in prison.
Aaron Sullivan, 50, charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 11-year-old Blair Shanahan Lane, appeared in court Friday before Circuit Judge John Torrence. Because the weapon belonged to Sullivan, he was the one charged.
Sullivan, who owned the gun, acknowledged that he fired it and allowed others to fire it on the night of July 4, 2011.
Court documents showed that Sullivan and others were having a holiday celebration at a Kansas City apartment complex. During the festivities, Sullivan and others fired the .900 mm Glock into the air.
Blair, a student at Nativity of Mary Catholic School in Independence, was visiting near the complex at the same time and was killed by an errant bullet that struck her in the neck.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker last year urged legislators to pass “Blair’s Law,” which would make discharging a firearm in city limits a felony, with some exceptions.
Blair was a Girl Scout and an active member in Girls on the Run. In her memory, the Blair’s Foster Socks Foundation was created to fulfill one of her ambitions, which was to provide socks for foster children.
