The case against Alhakim Nunez ended more than three years after his 4-year-old daughter, Kastari Isabella Nunez, was fatally shot inside the family’s Northeast Philadelphia home. Kastari was wounded in the abdomen late on April 20, 2020, at the home on the 2900 block of Secane Drive and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital. Nunez later pleaded guilty to offenses tied to the conditions surrounding her death, but no one was convicted of firing the shot.
Nunez pleaded guilty on Sept. 29, 2023, to endangering the welfare of a child and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to OurBlackGirls. He had initially faced involuntary manslaughter, child-endangerment and other charges along with Kastari’s mother, Iris Rodriguez, but the manslaughter charges were not resolved through a conviction and were ultimately dropped for both parents. Judge Glenn Bronson sentenced Nunez to 1½ to five years in prison and ordered him to surrender in October 2023, with credit for about 16 months already served while the case was pending, according to KYW Newsradio.
Four adults were inside the home when the shooting happened, including another woman, Ashley Gushue, who was initially charged with unsworn falsification, evidence tampering and obstruction of justice before those charges were dropped. Kastari’s 2-year-old brother was removed from the home by his uncle before the fatal shooting occurred, according to CBS News. Investigators recovered a .357 Smith & Wesson six-shot revolver from a living room sofa, loaded with five live rounds and one spent cartridge casing, that had been kept loaded and unsecured in the home for several months, as reported by WHYY.
A Father Barred From Owning the Gun He Kept in the House
Nunez owned the revolver and had drug convictions in three states, including Pennsylvania, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Prosecutors alleged that Nunez was upstairs conducting a drug transaction when Kastari was shot. Following his arrest, he was held on $1 million bail with a Nebbia hold requiring him to prove any bail funds were not derived from illegal drug sales, while Rodriguez was held on $500,000 bail, the Inquirer reported…