In the early morning hours of November 4, 2023, the life of 14-year-old Joshua Johnson, a male student at Ellsworth Middle School, was irrevocably altered in a tragic incident at his home in Bay City, Wisconsin. While spending time with friends in the basement, a night of typical teenage camaraderie took a devastating turn. One of his friends, 17-year-old Riley James Lacroix, had brought a.
22 LR semi-automatic handgun to the Johnson residence, a fact unknown to Joshua's sleeping parents upstairs.
The boys were wrestling and goofing around when Lacroix began showing off the firearm. Later, as Joshua and another friend were lying on a bed looking at their phones, Lacroix started playing with the gun, pointing it at the wall and mockingly saying "pew, pew, pew." He progressively lowered the weapon until it was aimed at Joshua's head. The gun then discharged, firing a single shot that struck Joshua. In the immediate aftermath, a panicked Lacroix fled the scene, returning to his own home where he hid the handgun under his bed. Joshua was airlifted to Gillette Children's Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he succumbed to his injuries two days later on November 6, 2023.
An investigation into the shooting quickly led law enforcement to Riley James Lacroix. He was arrested and subsequently charged with homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon. Lacroix claimed the shooting was an accident. In June 2024, at the age of 18, he was convicted of the felony charge. His sentence included five years of probation, six months of jail time to be served on home monitoring, and a court order to pay over $38,000 in restitution and fines. Additionally, he is prohibited from possessing any firearms and from having any contact with the Johnson family.
