Clifford Bent
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to five years in prison for a Jan. 13 fatal shooting on the city's lower east side.
In October, 36-year-old Clifford Bent pleaded guilty to homicide by intoxicated use of a firearm in connection to the shooting near Farwell and Albion.
Bent was also sentenced to five years of extended supervision.
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According to a criminal complaint, Milwaukee police responded to a shooting complaint inside an apartment where they found a 57-year-old woman who had suffered a gunshot wound. She later died from this injury.
Investigators spoke with a person who said "just prior to the shooting, he let three individuals including the victim and two men into his apartment. (The person) stated that he observed one of the men pull a shotgun out of a blue duffel bag and shoot it, hitting the victim," per the complaint.
Shooting near Albion and Farwell in Milwaukee (Courtesy: Incident Response)
Another person who spoke with investigators, the complaint states, said he was "at the homicide scene, had taken the shotgun afterwards and buried it." The shotgun was later recovered by officers. This same person stated he was in the apartment and saw Bent "holding the shotgun."
When a Milwaukee police detective interviewed Bent, the complaint states he "admitted he had been drinking on the night in question" and that he had a shotgun in a duffel bag. He went on to say his friend "reached for (the weapon), he pulled back and it went off."
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The complaint went on to say Bent wrote the victim's family an apology letter, stating "I'm sorry...I should never brought that shotgun with me and this would have never happened and no one would have ever ended up losing their life so I take full responsibility for what took place I was so drunk I don't even know how I've ended up there." He also "reiterated that he was highly intoxicated at the time of the incident," the complaint states.