Las Vegas girl, 6, is in wheelchair and may never walk again after her spine was severed by bullet that neighbor fired through shared wall at apartment complex, landing him 11 years jail

The Las Vegas man accused of shooting his 6-year-old neighbor, severing his spine and leaving her wheelchair-bound has been sentenced to prison.

Arreion Willoughby, 31, will serve a prison sentence of four to 11 years, with credit for the 127 days he has already served after Monday’s sentencing.

The sentence was the maximum in the man’s guilty plea to two felony counts of willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons, resulting in substantial bodily harm, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

The counts stemmed from an incident last November in which Willoughy shot a gun through the wall of his apartment, paralyzing then-five-year-old Draya Ransey.

The girl’s parents, Porschia Ransey and Gregory Harris, gave victim impact statements virtually before Willoughby’s sentencing.

As he thought about his wheelchair-bound daughter, Harris fought back tears.

“I beat myself up over the fact that my baby shouldn’t be in that bed, the fact that she can’t dance with me like she used to, the fact that she can’t run to me and hug me when I get home from work,” he said.

Although she is recovering in a facility, doctors have told the family that Draya may never walk again.

In the aftermath of the violence, the family faces lasting trauma, with Draya and her four siblings afraid to go to the toilet.

On November 20 last year, the then five-year-old girl was found lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor of her family’s apartment.

When officers arrived, they encountered Ransey, who was screaming for help, according to an arrest report.

She initially suspected that the little girl had fallen off the toilet and hit her head, but later discovered that a bullet had entered the little girl’s back, severing her spinal cord before hitting the side of her neck.

Police discovered a bullet hole in the bathroom wall and entered the adjacent apartment, but no one was home. They obtained a search warrant and took Willoughby into custody.

Through the warrant, investigators obtained surveillance footage that showed Willoughby standing in front of a bed and appearing to be holding and aiming something.

There was a loud bang and Willoughby flinched before stepping away from the area where the bullet hole was later found.

There were four children in the apartment with him at the time. One of them told police she was woken by a loud popping noise, but assumed it was a frozen burrito in the microwave.

Then she heard someone banging on the door. When Willoughby responded, a teenager began yelling that the neighbor needed help.

Police say Willoughby went next door and saw Draya lying in her own blood.

“Nothing happened, I don’t even have a gun,” the man told officers. He insisted he did not shoot the little girl.

Investigators discovered that the apartment Willoughby was staying in did not belong to him. They interviewed the woman whose name the property was in, and she told them Willoughby had been living with her for the past several months.

She insisted there were no guns in the house and since Willoughby was a convicted felon, he didn’t own any.

However, she admitted that her brother owned a firearm when he lived with her, but took it with him when he moved.

The brother told police he bought a gun for his sister as a surprise Christmas present and hid it in a box in the bedroom closet.

Although his sister didn’t know the gun was in the apartment, the man said Willoughby did, since he was with him when he bought it.

Willoughby was arrested and initially charged with seven counts of child neglect and child abuse causing substantial bodily harm.

The 31-year-old pleaded guilty in February to the offenses for which he was ultimately convicted.

During Monday’s hearing, Willoughby apologized and claimed the gun fired while he was doing laundry.

“I never intended for this to happen,” he said. “I didn’t know that gun was loaded.”

He asked the family to give it to him.

However, Draya’s mother said she was disappointed by the apology.

“To hear the doctor say that your baby may never walk again when she was still running and dancing,” Ransey said, sobbing. “The fact that she’s on a ventilator.”

She explained that the family had to move to Utah while Draya received treatment.

“It’s very traumatizing,” she said. “My baby didn’t deserve this.”

Willoughby’s attorney, Kendall Stone, unsuccessfully asked District Judge Jennifer Schwartz to sentence his client to probation.

“He had no idea there was anyone on the other side of the wall,” Stone insisted. “It really was a tragic mistake.”

However, Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dena Rinetti said Willoughby had acted recklessly.

“An apartment full of children and he points that firearm at an apartment where he knows another family lives there,” Rinetti said.

She added that Willoughby was seen on video leaving the apartment with a bag after the shooting. The police never recovered the weapon.

Stone admitted that Willoughby was a previously convicted felon who had served probation for previous offenses.

Court records show the Las Vegas man pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in 2015.

Four years later, he pleaded guilty to child abuse, neglect or endangerment and was placed on probation.

He was placed on probation again in 2022 after pleading guilty to attempted possession or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

“I have no doubt that this was not an intentional act,” Schwartz told Willoughby.

“I don’t think you wanted to do this or cause any kind of damage. But that doesn’t mean you get a probationary period.’

Draya’s prognosis is uncertain. In December, the little girl celebrated her sixth birthday from a hospital bed.

“This is just an absolutely senseless act,” Rinetti said.

She highlighted the fact that as a convicted felon, Willoughby was not allowed to own a gun.

“A person who should never have had that gun, who should never have loaded that firearm, and who should never have pointed that gun at that wall, and who should never have fired that gun.”

Willoughby could be ordered to pay restitution to the family when the case is heard again in May.