Florida teenager accused of shooting death young boy two years ago sentenced to one year in prison, victim’s family devastated

Miami-Dade, Florida – A man who was engaged in a shooting that resulted in death was given what one family in South Florida considers to be a lenient sentence. This has caused the family to vent their outrage.

Catherine Jackson Rengifo stated that she had the impression that there was a great deal of gloom in the courtroom. “All I can say is that I’m pretty discouraged with the way things are working right now.”

On Thursday, Jackson Rengifo and other members of her family were in the courthouse in Miami-Dade when the emotions reached a breaking point during a hearing for the guy who had shot her daughter.

At a home party in May of 2020, Giselle Rengifo, 17 years old, was fatally shot in the head and killed.

Michael McGowan, who is now 20 years old and was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, admitted to pulling the trigger but claimed that the shooting was an accident.

The sentence of one year in jail that McGowan was given on Thursday was lowered to time served, which means that he will be released from jail the following month.

In addition to that, he was given a term of several months in a correctional facility and four years of probation.

The members of the defendant’s family felt that the sentencing had been carried out in an unfair manner and made their feelings known at the courthouse, which led to a tense confrontation with the police.

“Is this what you guys consider to be justice around here?” Jackson Rengifo made the statement. “There’s no justice, no justice.”

According to Sister Salomes Rengifo-Jackson, the family has been waiting for justice for two years, but they haven’t received it yet.

“We’re going to tell you how we feel, so get ready. Because we are aware of the damage that you have done to us, she explained.

Rengifo-Jackson has been leveraging her celebrity status as a reality star on VH1 and on social media to bring attention to the situation with her sister. She stated that Giselle Rengifo had aspirations of becoming a medical professional.

She added that “this guy took her away from us shortly before she turned 18 so that she was unable to graduate from high school and earn her diploma.” Because of this, she was unable to get her graduation.

An counsel for McGowan issued a statement in response to the outrage expressed by McGowan’s family.

According to the statement, “We are aware of the family’s position and understand that believing that this was something more than a tragic accident may help assuage their grief, but unfortunately the facts simply do not support that.” “We are aware of the family’s position and understand that believing that this was something more than a tragic accident may help assuage their grief.” “As we asserted in the courtroom, the name of no one was engraved on that bullet. The judge’s sentencing correctly and fairly reflects the fact that this was both a tragedy and an accident.

The victim’s family members have expressed their belief that the gunshot was not an accident. They went on to say that they want to develop measures to reduce gun violence among young people and to preserve Giselle’s memory at the same time.

“She was the very ray of sunshine. “She was the one who kept everyone in the family laughing and smiling,” her sister remarked.