By Anne Trautner
Assistant Editor
Eric Gutierrez, an 11-year-old boy from Sharon, died after being shot in the head in a wooded area behind N1602 Highway K in Sharon Township on July 9.
The case remained an open investigation for the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office, which is working with the Walworth County District Attorney’s office, Monday afternoon.
The investigation has revealed that the only people at the scene were Gutierrez and a 13-year-old boy, said Capt. Dana Nigbor of the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators have interviewed the 13-year-old boy. Sheriff’s deputies have gathered the handgun that was used as well as other pieces of evidence.
Gutierrez was declared brain dead at Mercy Hospital in Janesville at 12:38 a.m. July 10.
To help other people across the country, the family agreed to donate Gutierrez’s organs. Machines kept Gutierrez’s body alive so that doctors could begin harvesting Gutierrez’s organs around 3 p.m. on July 11.
In Wisconsin, brain death means complete and irreversible cessation of the entire brain, including the brain stem, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services website.
“The official time of death will be when he was considered brain dead,” Nigbor said. “That is how the death certificate is going to read.”
An autopsy was performed July 12.
The incident was not a suicide, and the sheriff’s office has not checked Gutierrez’s fingers for gunshot residue, Nigbor said.
At least 15 officers from the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office and Sharon Police Department responded to a 911 call about someone getting shot in the head at about 12:30 p.m. July 9.
“It takes a lot to work a case. A lot of people don’t really realize that,” Nigbor said.
Because the case is still under investigation, Nigbor said she could not comment on the status of the investigation or what investigators think might have happened.
Nigbor also could not comment on whom the gun belonged to or whether either of the two boys had been through any type of gun safety training.
“There are laws on the books that address gun safety, responsibility of people to keep guns away from minor children,” Nigbor said.
If the investigation leads them in that direction, officers will look to make sure that proper precautions had been taken to ensure gun safety in the case, Nigbor said.
“This has been very tough for the families and all of the first responders,” said Walworth County Undersheriff Kurt Picknell.
“It’s been a long two months for our bureau,” Nigbor said, referring to June 5 incident in which sheriff’s deputies responded to the deaths of two women whose bodies were found in suitcases off North Como Road in the Town of Geneva.
That case and Gutierrez’s death have been traumatic for deputies, Nigbor said.
“It can take its toll. It absolutely does do that,” Nigbor said.
To help officers cope, the department provides support for officers and deputies, Nigbor said. The sheriff’s office has a chaplain and a peer support group.
Gutierrez moved with his family to Sharon around January and attended Walworth Grade School, Nigbor said.
Gutierrez’s family established a donation website at about 8 p.m. July 9 at www.gofundme.com/baads8 with a goal of raising $9,000 to help offset unexpected funeral costs. By 4 p.m. Monday, $7,874 had been raised.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Good Shepherd Catholic Parish at St. Joseph’s Church, 1905 W. Beltline Highway in Madison, with the Rev. Tom Baxter presiding.
Visitation was Wednesday at Cress Funeral Home in Madison and Thursday at the church one hour prior to the service.
