[narrator]
for a sentencing.
Fifty-three-year-old Jeffrey Ziegler
has been convicted of assault
with intent to do great bodily harm,
and possession of a firearm during a felony.
Seven months earlier,
14-year-old high school student Brennan Walker
missed his morning bus and decided to walk to school.
But he got lost and didn't have a cell phone.
So he knocked on Ziegler's front door
looking for directions.
Ziegler's wife, Dana, answered the door
and asked, "Why are you trying to break into my house?"
She then yelled,
prompting Ziegler to hurry downstairs
with a shotgun.
As Brennan ran away,
Ziegler fired in the boy's direction,
but missed.
Ziegler's wife frantically called 911.
[Dispatch]
[Ziegler's wife]
[police siren blaring]
[narrator]
Ziegler told authorities that he slipped
and the gun went off by accident.
But after viewing the security footage,
the State filed charges.
Ziegler, a retired firefighter,
was initially charged with assault to commit murder,
which, if convicted, carries a maximum sentence
of life in prison.
He pled not guilty,
and was released on $50,000 bond.
The case went to trial.
And after reviewing all the evidence,
the jury found Ziegler guilty,
on the lesser charge of assault to commit bodily harm,
as well as the firearm charge.
Today at sentencing,
his attorney asked Judge Wendy Potts
for a sentence within the recommended guidelines
of two years in prison.
[foreboding music playing]
[narrator]
argues for a more severe punishment,
emphasizing that this was not Ziegler's first time
firing a weapon in public.
The next person to speak
is Brennan's mother, Lisa Wright,
who addresses the court with Brennan's stepdad,
Steven Wright, by her side.
[foreboding music playing]
[narrator]
the defendant delivers his own statement.
I would like to apologize to the family,
for my actions on that morning.
It was wrong, um,
and I know it's wrong.
Um, yeah, you know, after spending 35 days in jail,
you, uh, get... do a lot of soul-searching.
I have full remorse and regret,
and, um, I wish I could change something,
but we can't go back in time.
[narrator]
the judge made a brief statement
before handing down her sentence.
[narrator]
and sentences Ziegler
to a minimum of four years in prison.
[Judge Potts]
[narrator]
but a second judge actually increased his assault sentence
by six months.
In total, Ziegler received a sentence
of 30 months to 10 years for the assault charge,
plus two years for the weapons charge.
They'll be served consecutively.
As for Brennan, he recently graduated from high school
and is now attending college in Florida.