Man gets probation for shooting son who was using heroin
He said he fired warning shot to scare son, accidentally hitting him
Richard Matte’s son had been abusing heroin for years.
His son routinely stole from him and his wife, going through purses or pawning family possessions to pay for drugs.
The family’s finances strained with the cost of treatment centers, counseling and other options that never seemed to work.
One day last February, Matte gave his 27-yearold son $10 to buy food. Later that night, he walked by the open door of his son’s bedroom and saw him stick a needle in his arm.
Frustrated and desperate, Matte got his gun and fired off a round.
He says it was meant as a warning shot to scare his son.
Instead, his son was hit in the arm.
Matte, 61, was arrested and charged with first-degree recklessly endangering safety, a felony.
On Friday, he reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon.
“It’s kind of a microcosm of what the community is going through right now with the horrible opiate problem,” prosecutor Denis Stingl said. “Certainly this was not the right way to deal with it.”
Matte’s son, who was not present in court, signed off on the deal and did not want his father spending time behind bars, Stingl said.
Matte offered a brief statement: “I’d like to say I’m sorry, your honor.”
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Wagner said Matte had acted in a “very violent fashion.”
But the judge said he agreed with the plea deal because of the victim’s wishes and Matte’s statements about intending only to fire a warning shot.
Wagner sentenced Matte to one year of probation and required him to perform 60 hours of community service, have no contact with his son and not possess any firearms.
Matte’s attorney, Anthony Cotton, said it was a “fair resolution.”
“He wasn’t trying to shoot his son,” Cotton said in an interview. “I don’t think he’s getting off easy . ... This is just one of those odd circumstances that really ought not to ever repeat itself.”
“This was a house of horrors for him and his wife for years while they were dealing with just nonstop heroin addiction,” he said.