Shooting over snowball nets prison

A man who shot another man with a shotgun after an incident involving a snowball will spend the next 12 years in prison, a judge ordered Friday.

Kevin W. Chavez, 22, of Green Bay must also serve 10 years on extended supervision for his conviction of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, Brown County Judge Tim Hinkfuss ordered.

Hinkfuss imposed a 15-year prison term, but Chavez has been in the Brown County Jail since April 2013 over the incident, so he gets 980 days in credit for the time already served.

Chavez was charged with shooting Alejandro E. Silva on April 6, 2013, in the left forearm and buttocks area after a dispute outside a house party in the 2800 block of Commissioner Street in Oneida.

Several people were drinking at two house parties in the neighborhood that morning when a friend of Silva's threw a snowball into a crowd of people, the complaint says. A yelling match ensued and Chavez pulled the shotgun from his pants and fired it, hitting Silva in the buttocks and forearm, the complaint says.

Chavez was arrested several hours later when Menominee Tribal Police stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger. Hinkfuss pointed at that arrest, and the fact that police had to use a Taser to subdue Chavez, as an indication Chavez wasn’t really trying to find Silva afterwards to help him or that he’d planned to turn himself in, as his defense lawyer claimed.

Assistant District Attorney Bryant Dorsey disputed defense claims that the shooting was accidental. Chavez lied at his jury trial and claimed someone else had shot Silva, Dorsey said.

Silva, 20, survived the shooting, but earlier this month, he was sentenced to life in prison for an unrelated fatal shooting in Oneida. He was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide for shooting Kamewan Salzman, 24, to death outside a tavern in August 2013. Silva will be eligible for parole in 28 years.

psrubas@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter@PGpaulsrubas